


Investigation

by denise (denise3)



Series: TBG: The Enterprise and the Doctor [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Doctor Who AU, Gen, Star Trek 50th Anniversary, alternate Doctor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2018-05-30 08:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6415690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denise3/pseuds/denise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Enterprise arrives on New Sapienza looking for the Doctor, but there they'll find more than they hoped for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Detour

_First Officer's log, Stardate 2687.8. The Enterprise has been diverted from its mission to study the Faren-Ortean planetary nebula in order to assist the Ton Selat mining colony, where the main power plant has exploded, killing or injuring a third of the population. The search and rescue operations are all but finished, and Mr. Scott reports that the new power plant is already up and running, with final tests of the automated control system scheduled to be completed in the next five hours. Captain Kirk is also planetside, coordinating the handover of the relief effort to Commodore Palidor, who arrived yesterday with the relief convoy from Starbase 25. As soon as they are aboard, the Enterprise will be ready to leave orbit. Meanwhile, I have received some surprising news regarding the mysterious Doctor John Smith._

Spock was sitting at the desk in his quarters, reading the message for the third time. He'd met T'Val three times before, in Vulcan, though the very respected but strict researcher had never shown anything but complete indifference towards her younger colleague's work, even after he'd published his first results lending support to her hypothesis on the resonance characteristics of Lh'th'kvar subspace waves. Nonetheless, he'd included her in the list of acquaintances to whom he'd forwarded his request for information on the Doctor. She was currently heading a team at the Zikran 27 research outpost in the neighboring sector, and as they were one of the parties interested in the data the _Enterprise_ was collecting on the nebula, she knew where to find him. However, normal communications had been disrupted by the subspace disturbances that plagued this area of space, the same disturbances her team had been studying. It was only with the arrival of the relief convoy that the missives had finally reached him, along with all the other low-priority communications that had previously failed to be delivered to the _Enterprise_.

If her contacting him was unexpected, the content of her messages had left him disconcerted. The Doctor had taken the time to stop at Zikran 27 just to talk to her. Spock hadn't anticipated he'd be interested, or knowledgeable, in subspace field theory. But apparently he'd wanted to discuss the possibility of applying some of her research to the detection of cloaked vessels in deep space. She sounded dismissive of the idea, but she was positively animated about the experience. Quite peculiar. "A remarkable man," that was what T'Val had to say about the Doctor. They'd talked at length about her experiments, and she implied that not only he'd seemed interested in her work, he knew enough about it to impress her and even suggest a couple of novel approaches. Their conversation had then derived to other topics, and when the Doctor mentioned knowing Spock, she'd used the opportunity to try to obtain more information.

She dryly commented that she'd immediately remembered Spock's request upon first meeting the Doctor, but since her fellow Vulcan had neglected to mention the reason for his interest in the man, she'd inferred he intended to meet him again in person. So she'd found out that the Doctor was bound to stop next at the Ackathar colony, home for a small Federation academic institution, though he'd managed to avoid revealing anything else about his plans. Unfortunately, Spock wouldn't have been able to reach the Doctor there, even if her warning had reached him in time. Fortunately, T'Val was curious and interested enough to use her own contacts to confirm the Doctor's arrival and movements in Ackathar. She'd forwarded him the details, along with a request that Spock stop by Zikran 27 whenever convenient.

Spock straightened in the chair and tried to think. Too many questions were crossing his mind, and it took him some effort to reorder his thoughts. The priority was finding out where the Doctor could be going next. His presence in these outlying sectors of Federation space, so far away from where they first met him in Galinedoria Beta IV, was unexpected. But, for some reason, he was still stopping at academic and research institutions along the way. Therefore it remained the most promising approach to finding the mysterious man.

He called up the tridimensional model of Federation space he'd been working on for the last two months. All known academic and research institutions within this region of the galaxy were represented as bright silver spots in the holographic display. A number of them were marked with colored circles, denoting suspected or confirmed visits by the Doctor. Two deep blue circles marked Alander Prime and Geren III, on one side of Federation space, which he'd been able to confirm were the first two places the Doctor visited after Galinedoria. A third light blue circle marked Elender Station, which was almost halfway around, and the only other place where he'd previously had enough evidence to suspect the Doctor's presence with high probability. However, the distance between Geren III and Elender Station was very large, and there was a number of light green, yellow and orange-colored circles, scattered around the region, where a possible presence by Doctor John Smith had been reported, with estimated probabilities ranging from seventy to thirty percent. The scattered reports had previously prevented the route calculator from successfully deriving a trajectory that could explain the Doctor's movements with higher than fifty percent probability. Spock expected this'd now finally change.

The last communications package had also included some new information regarding a number of the previously reported Doctor visits, so he focused first on the three light green circles. One of the events, whose date had previously been uncertain, was now confirmed to have occurred around Stardate 2110, so even if the Doctor had been there, it'd happened before Galinedoria, so it was irrelevant to the current investigation. In the second event, the person involved, though also named as a 'Doctor John Smith', had been a shorter individual, with different facial characteristics, so he couldn't be the same man. Spock excluded both events from his map. The last report had just confirmed that one of the light orange events referred to an individual with the same physical characteristics of the Doctor, who had also asked for advanced papers in virology and epidemiology. Spock changed its probability accordingly, and its color switched to light blue. Since it happened at the same date as the third light green visit, he downgraded this one to a very low probability and it disappeared from the display.

Spock now looked for the spots corresponding to Zikran 27 and Ackathar and entered the dates the Doctor had been present there. They were updated with deep blue circles. There were now six blue circles, which along with a couple other yellow and orange events seemed to delineate a more of less direct route from the Galinedorian sector of space towards the area where the _Enterprise_ was currently assigned to. He activated the route calculator algorithm. It quickly came up with a result, indicating with 93.20% likelihood a trajectory with Warp 5.3 maximum speed stopping by all eight spots at the recorded dates. If only the six blue events were considered, the necessary maximum speed fell to Warp 4.2, with likelihood 79.15%. Even so, there weren't many ships capable of such speeds and range, especially not privately-owned ones. But it was a very good fit for the available evidence. He finally activated the predictor algorithm. The highest likelihood trajectory extended into the _Enterprise_ 's current sector, with probability 97.76%. There were two spots present in the area, either of which could in principle be the Doctor's next destination. He might need more information to decide between the two.

Since that last report had made it three times when the Doctor'd asked for biology and medicine papers in a library, Spock set a filter, changing to a golden hue all the spots corresponding to facilities with active research programs in either of these two fields. Five of the eight spots along the route were now shining gold, except for Geren III and the last two ones. However, Geren III was home to one of the co-authors of a number of the immunology papers the Doctor seemed to be interested in, and that might be enough to explain his presence at the planet. It was exactly what'd happened in Ackathar. The Doctor had looked for one of the main authors of one of the epidemiology papers who had moved to that colony with his family and was starting a new college there. The Doctor's stop at Zikran 27 might seem odd in comparison, but it could easily be explained by his interest in defeating cloaking devices.

Spock turned his attention to the two next spots, one silver and one golden, and called up the information on the silver-hued one. Gabala VI was a Starfleet outpost, and the Doctor could arrive there in the next day or so. He cross-referenced its resident researchers with the list of paper authors. There was a renowned virologist who'd relocated with his wife when her research group moved there, so it was a distinct possibility. However it was also a military outpost, so the Doctor would risk capture by going there. The golden spot was New Sapienza, a large independent university who was famous for their reticence towards Starfleet. It was slightly closer to Ackathar, so the Doctor might already be there. There wasn't much time if they wanted to catch up with the Doctor.

* * *

Spock stepped into the bridge. The captain had arrived only a few minutes before, but the sooner the Vulcan managed to convince him to go after the Doctor the greater their chance of getting there in time. He approached the central chair, where Kirk was reviewing the many reports his yeoman had handed him.

"Captain, if you have a moment, there's something I need to discuss." Kirk raised his head. Spock knew that coordinating the rescue parties was extraordinarily demanding, but the captain seemed even more tired than he had expected.

"Can't it wait, Spock? Soon we'll be underway, and there'll be time enough for that."

"It regards our next destination, Captain. I would recommend that we delay the resumption of our study of the nebula so we can visit the University of New Sapienza and the Starfleet research outpost in Gabala VI."

"I thought you were anxious to go back to Faren-Ortean."

"It is fascinating, but the planetary nebula can wait." Spock noticed that Doctor McCoy had just arrived on the bridge. Stiffening, he continued, "I have evidence that the Doctor is probably in this sector, and we may have the chance to apprehend him." The ship's doctor silently descended the ramp towards the captain's chair, head tilted to the side. It was obvious that he was listening to their conversation.

"Are you certain? No, I don't want to see the evidence," the captain said, pushing away the proffered datapad. "I trust your analysis. But we can't simply divert the Starfleet flagship to go hunting for one man, even if he's a fugitive. We've already lost most of the time allotted for our study of the nebula, and our results are very important to the Starfleet astrophysics department. You've said as much yourself."

"Yes, Captain, but we could at least stop at New Sapienza. We would still have time to complete the study as scheduled. In any case, we've already collected most of the data from the nebula, and my analysis indicates that only a small subset of the remaining data points would be enough to complete the study."

"New Sapienza or Gabala VI?" The captain narrowed his eyes and studied his Vulcan officer and friend. "Gabala VI is closer to our route. We'd lose less time if we diverted there."

"Hang on," McCoy cut in, surprising the others, "I'd say New Sapienza is much more interesting than Gabala. I never understood why they chose that desolate rock to build a research station." Kirk turned to look at him.

"Do you also want to meet the Doctor, Bones?" he chuckled, while Spock watched warily.

"Well, Jim, I'll admit I'm curious about the man. But more importantly, Professor Finch is currently heading a research team in New Sapienza, and there's a paper I'd like to discuss with him."

"Is it that paper about the non-coding viral genome, Doctor McCoy?" Spock asked.

"Yes, exactly. All the papers you gave me were very interesting. You said they were the ones this Doctor of yours had asked for, right?"

"Indeed. Do you have any idea what his interest in them would be, Doctor?" asked Spock, as Kirk looked between them, amused.

"Not really, some of them are ludicrous. And I have no idea what they'd all have in common. But one of them-"

"Gentlemen," Kirk interrupted, "am I to believe you're both here to suggest we go after Doctor John Smith?"

"Uh, if he's also in New Sapienza, yes, I'd very much like the opportunity to meet this Doctor," McCoy put in. "The paper he asked for from Professor Finch raises a few points that made me remember that strange flu we caught some six months ago."

"When we left Galinedoria, Doctor?" asked Spock.

"Yes, now that you mention it, it was just after we left the planet. It was so contagious that at least a third of the crew was infected before I knew it was aboard. It may have been something you brought from the planet that somehow passed by the transporter's biofilters undetected. Luckily it was mild enough that-"

"Enough, Bones. I'm sorry, but your wish to talk to Professor Finch isn't enough to divert the _Enterprise_. However, if Spock can determine whether Doctor John Smith is on Gabala VI or New Sapienza, I'll consider going after him. You have three hours, until Mr. Scott is scheduled to return from the surface. Otherwise, we'll go directly to Faren-Ortean. Now, I'm going to head to my room and finish reviewing these reports in peace, so you can continue talking on the bridge." He stood to leave. "Spock, since you're already here, the bridge is yours."

"My apologies for bothering you, Captain."

"No problem, Mr. Spock. I'm looking forward to some quiet time. Bones, if you have an analgesic, I'd really like some. I have a headache."

"I believe I can arrange that, Jim." The two of them entered the turbolift, leaving Spock on the bridge.

* * *

Spock tried contacting both planets, but all he could determine was that the Doctor hadn't appeared in Gabala VI, at least not yet. However, Spock had no close contacts in New Sapienza, and those acquaintances he'd managed to reach in that short time had yet to return with an answer. There wasn't much else he could try, so, with the three hours almost up, he risked contacting New Sapienza space control to see if he could learn anything.

He got lucky. The junior controller that answered his call didn't ask whether he was Starfleet, so Spock didn't mention it, and when asked if any ship carrying a John Smith had recently arrived, the controller mentioned one that'd come in the day before. Therefore, when the captain finally returned to the bridge, Spock was able to say with reasonable certainty that the Doctor was probably on New Sapienza, and they were underway. It would be twenty-six hours before the _Enterprise_ arrived on the planet, and he'd have that long to confirm the Doctor's presence. He only hoped their quarry wouldn't leave before they arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the delay in posting this. It took me a while to get it to the point where I was reasonably satisfied with Spock's reasoning. I've also been stricken by a serious bout of writer's block, and Real Life hasn't been helping matters. But I hope I've now solved - a month late! - most of the problems. As I said before, this and the next two episodes have already been plotted, and all that remains is putting the words on the page. In order to limit my stress levels, from now on I'm commiting to post one chapter every other week.
> 
> I'd like to send copious thanks to all of you who've read, followed and kudo'ed this story. It helps me write when I know there's someone out there enjoying it as well. It'll help even more if you tell me something about what you felt is okay, or not okay, about this story. Or ask questions. Really, I'd very much like to hear from you!
> 
> I'd also like to thank profusely my beta, Ersatz Einstein, for all his patience and help in taming my tenses, prepositions, commas and weird constructions. I have to mention the last text revision and all the errors are always my fault, since I don't stop tinkering with the text until it's published (and I'll often continue tinkering for some time after that).
> 
> Unfortunately, my brilliant beta fears he won't be able to continue helping me much further, so if you'd be willing to try to beta this work, or recommend someone who could, I'd be most thankful.


	2. New Sapienza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Kirk, Spock and McCoy arrive on New Sapienza, the captain listens to their discussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone complained in an anonymous review that it's not clear who's talking when. I've tried to make it clearer, but note that it's just Spock and McCoy talking here.  
> OBS: Updated with corrections.

Kirk was piloting the shuttle towards the New Sapienza spaceport. What kind of scientific experiments would suffer interference from the use of transporters? Of course he knew there could be some, like sensitive subspace measurements, but for these they'd normally use small remote asteroids as lab sites. He massaged his neck, trying to relieve the stiffness he felt. Their quick stopover to collect Doctor John Smith was going to take longer than he had planned for. At least it was a chance to pilot a ship by himself, even if it's just a shuttle.

The planet below shone with purple seas and orange-y continents. He knew the unusual colors were due to the introduction of varied microorganisms, algae, lichens and moss, specially adapted to the environment, and used to convert the soil, seawater and atmosphere towards ones compatible with humanoid biology. But the planet still looked odd. The atmosphere had already been cleared from most noxious gases, but it wasn't breathable yet, with only trace amounts of oxygen and too much carbon dioxide. Therefore all the population was still living in domes, all of them concentrated in the only area in the southern continent that wasn't completely orange-tinted. A buffer zone was kept around the inhabited area, to prevent the mosses from happily dissolving the building materials in the same way they were eating up the surface rocks. Therefore, from this height, the New Sapienza University town showed as a light sandy-colored patch, with circular structures corresponding to the domes, interlinked by the thin darker lines of the surface transportation system.

Spock and McCoy had been talking since they entered the shuttle. He barely understood half of what they're saying. Histone analogs, three-dimensional molecular folding, he knew the words but he didn't understand their significance. But it was obvious that Spock understood, at least enough to ask relevant questions. And McCoy seemed happy to explain. He hadn't missed the fact that his two friends were talking animatedly and not arguing between them. Well, if he discounted the barbs from the good doctor and the dry rejoinders from the Vulcan.

"Of course," McCoy was saying, "the Cemery virus wasn't studied extensively until its symbiosis with the Omya brambles was discovered, and the nucleosome knot identified as a viral component. It's almost as if the brambles use the virus to wage biological warfare on competing plant life. Finch's team made the breakthrough in mapping how the interaction between the plant and the virus is mediated by phytohormones. The virus infects and kills off most other plant species, opening whole areas for colonization by the bramble seedlings. It's also active in the seedlings, enabling them to produce a toxin that protects them from grazing animals. But it's inactive in the mature shrub until a specific hormone is produced by the plant under stressful conditions. That hormone is also what stops vegetative growth and initiates the blooming of the shrubs to produce the seeds which in turn will carry the virus when dispersed by the wind."

"Fascinating," Spock replied. "Is it the hormone that unpacks the DNA?"

"No, in fact, it deactivates the plant protein that interacts with the viral histones to keep the DNA tightly folded up. Unfolded, the DNA can be copied and rearranged by the Aphred protein complex, which Finch describes in the paper."

"Impressive. So, the multiple additional messenger RNA are in fact extracted from a single DNA strand, in a way completely unrelated to how eukaryotic organisms achieve the same result."

"Yes, and that's the same reason why the nucleosome knot was initially misidentified," McCoy explained. "Most of it looks like non-coding DNA, which is quite rare among viruses. It's only the viral Aphred proteins, whose code the brambles incorporated into their own DNA, that are able to read and transcribe it. That's also how the plant manages to keep the virus under control." Kirk assumed all these words made some sense to the two of them, because he'd lost the train of thought a long time ago. Of course, he'd never bothered to spend much time studying microbiology.

"It's a very complex interaction. This DNA transcription process resembles the way text and image files can be compressed to use up less space."

"Of course your logical Vulcan mind would resort to computer parallels," the doctor complained, with no real heat. "But it's true. What's unique to the Cemery virus is its way of packing the information. It's not as if it couldn't carry enough DNA to code for all the proteins it needed. But the nucleosome knot also serves as the starting point for the assembly of the viral particles, so it's not surprising it's so well preserved."

"There is still one question you haven't answered, Doctor."

"And what is it, Spock?"

"What is the relation between the Cemery symbiotic virus and the Galinedorian flu virus?"

"Ah yes, the flu virus also presents a tightly folded, non-coding strand of DNA, at least as complex as the Cemery nucleosome knot. You see," McCoy said excitedly, "I've sequenced the complete viral DNA, while dissecting the virus to try to identify its origin, and I was curious about that non-coding stretch. I couldn't understand what it was doing there, or how it managed to avoid deletion, as eventually happens to any non-coding viral DNA. But it wasn't until you brought me that article that it finally clicked to me. It must perform some function in whatever species is the primary host for the virus."

"Would that be the Galinedorians, Doctor?"

"It's possible, but when I requested Starfleet Medical to ask for help from the Galinedorian government, they were refused. The Galinedorians seem to be very private about medical issues. Of course we can collect samples and look for the virus ourselves, but the Federation envoy was wary of angering the Galinedorians, and Starfleet Medical isn't sufficiently concerned about the virus to press the issue. Besides, everyone else is now worried about those Schreter infectious boils, even though they're only dangerous in extreme circumstances, so I think it's up to me to research it." And he launched into a detailed description of all the experiments he was already doing or planning to start, while Spock would sometimes make suggestions that were in fact taken into consideration by Doctor McCoy.

Kirk was filled with wonder, watching the two actually discussing something constructively. McCoy was a brilliant thinker in his own field. He could have followed a scientific career, but he'd rather treat patients and save lives. All that gruff exterior and poor bedside manners hid a warm, caring soul. Anyway, with his wide medical knowledge and curiosity he liked to keep abreast of the latest medical advancements and discoveries. That meant he and Spock had that in common, something which wasn't shared by their captain.

There was also the civilian clothes worn by both of them, of course, while he was still dressed in his uniform. They were both looking very much like researchers going to a conference, especially Spock with his Vulcan Academy robes. His first officer had warned him to change to casual clothing before they left. As they were boarding the shuttle, he'd asked why the captain hadn't followed his recommendation. "This is a university, and at New Sapienza in particular they don't like uniforms," Spock'd said. He'd replied he'd forgotten, but in fact he really hadn't wanted to do it. He was Starfleet, and there shouldn't be any need to hide it while in a Federation colony.

At that moment the spaceport traffic controller called, directing them to land at Bay 15. Kirk flew their shuttle expertly into the designated spot, watching curiously the assortment of small spaceships and shuttles lined up in the spaceport parking spaces. For a distant colony, there was quite a lot of traffic coming to New Sapienza. He hoped they'd find Doctor John Smith quickly and leave as soon as possible.

* * *

Kirk felt what little patience remained to him slipping away, as the spaceport officer continued to ignore him. Nonetheless, he was a trained diplomat, so he managed to keep a forced smile in his face until McCoy finally pulled him aside to let Spock deal with the man.

"Calm down, Jim. It kills me to say, but you should have listened to that blasted Vulcan. Social hierarchy works differently here and they don't care one jot for Starfleet captains, but Vulcan scientists, on the other hand..."

"Or medical researchers, like you," Kirk grumbled.

"Right. Look, there's an information totem. I don't trust Spock's contact to lead us to where we want to go, I'd like to know where we should go myself." They approached the totem, whose display showed a map of the whole town. "Okay, there should be a global directory here..." The doctor proceeded to fire a series of commands, surprising the captain.

"Bones, I thought you didn't like computers!"

"I don't like them telling me what to do, but this totem is almost exactly the same as the one we had when I was in college, and it's the fastest way to find who we want. Look, Professor Finch is listed as absent, due to return tomorrow. Well, it seems I'll have to go after Doctor John Smith with you. Let's see... Here, I've found him! It's him, right?" Indeed the display now showed a photo of the same man Kirk had met on Galinedoria, but here he was sporting a brilliant smile. There was almost no other information besides his specialization field, which said "everything", and place of stay, listed as "Residence Nedentide". Kirk watched as McCoy issued more commands. No voice commands, though, they were all gesture-based, unfamiliar to him. The display now showed instructions as to how they could get to the Residence. McCoy pressed one button and the totem printed a slip of paper containing the instructions and tickets for the ground transportation.

"Thanks, Bones! Now we only have to wait for Spock."

"Meanwhile, we can talk. Jim, it's clear you're not all right. You've been jumpy, irritated. Just after Ton Selat, you were a wreck. And you're not getting better. Not just as a doctor, but as your friend, what's happening?"

Kirk considered trying to deflect his questions, but ultimately decided against it. "I haven't been sleeping well, Bones."

"Nightmares?"

"Yes. They're back."

"You've been having them on and off for many months now. Any progress in remembering what it's all about?"

"No, just a sensation of impending doom, which has been growing lately. I have no idea why."

"I respect your intuition, Jim, but there's a limit to how much importance you can give to it and still remain sane."

"I'm trying, Bones! It's not as if anything I do changes it one bit!"

"Maybe you're worried about this John Smith. Sometimes, when you talk about him, you seem almost afraid of him."

"Perhaps... no, no, it's not that. He's troubling me, all right..."

"Spock is obsessed about him, you know."

"I've noticed. But he won't admit it."

"I do want to have a talk with this man. If he's managed to disturb my two, er, colleagues-"

"Captain, Doctor," called Spock, coming from the other side of the vast, mostly empty hall that served as an welcoming center. "I've found the information we need. We have to pick the main-"

"The main landrail, until Nedentide, we know," said Kirk.

"Oh? How did you learn it?"

"I'm not a novice, Spock. The information totems here may be tricky to the uninitiated, but I can handle them!" replied the doctor, waving the tickets in his hand.

Arguing all the way, the three of them moved to the station to board the train. Kirk felt slightly relieved to see normality reasserting itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a specialist in microbiology or the like, I'm just an interested geek, so if you find a serious mistake in my presentation of the (hypothetical) viruses, please tell me. I've tried to make it as plausible as I can, given the current state of knowledge in the field. And yes, it's relevant to the story, but there won't be lots of additional biological discussion beyond this.


	3. Residence Nedentide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirk, Spock and McCoy finally meet the Doctor.
> 
> OBS: Updated with small corrections.

As the vehicle entered the Nedentide Dome's airlock, Spock and McCoy were still arguing. At the start of the hour long trip, the doctor had been complaining about the role the Vulcan Science Council had had in supporting the foundation of the colony, but Kirk'd lost track of their discussion early on, when the only other humans in the carriage, a pair of youngsters, had approached, curious about the Starfleet captain. He'd been surprised to discover that Mia and Joseph were the children of an old childhood acquaintance. The boy was enthusiastic about his acceptance to the graduate course in applied biology, and he'd talked at length to Kirk about the next steps of the terraforming process of the planet. Mia, who'd joined the computer science program, was more subdued, since she was still recovering from a flu that she'd contracted in the starliner that brought them here. But talking with the two youngsters had lifted the captain's spirits, and he was smiling as he said his goodbyes to them.

Spock and McCoy joined him, and the three _Enterprise_ officers stepped aside to let the dozen or so other passengers, most of them students, leave the terminal and move inside the dome, talking animatedly among themselves. Watching them stride ahead, Kirk thought of his son, until he suddenly realized the doctor had asked him a question.

"Sorry, Bones, what was that?"

His friend examined him critically. Nodding to himself, McCoy raised his eyebrow and said, "I was wondering if you'd heard about Je'Ena's theory."

"Master Je'Ena of L'vory has done groundbreaking work on classifying the evolutionary processes of primitive life emergence, and explaining why sometimes such emergence seems to be stalled," Spock explained.

"No, I've never heard about it. Why?"

"Oh, nothing serious at all," McCoy snarked. "It's just that this stubborn Vulcan refuses to consider the possibility that this planet was uninhabited for a very good reason! Something must be killing off life here before it can get organized enough. This colony may be on the brink of a disaster!"

"There's no evidence of repeating solar storms or other phenomena that would justify such fears, Doctor."

"No? And what about the other planets in the sector? There's only two which have managed to develop any form of multicellular life, and that's being charitable! It's too much of a coincidence!"

"You are mistaken. The probability of such a region being found somewhere within the space of the Federation is 71.2%."

"That's if Je'Ena is correct, but I'm far from convinced! Her figures-"

"Enough!" Kirk raised both his arms between them as if to keep his two friends from coming to blows. "You can continue your discussion once we're done here. Right now, I need you to focus. We want to find and talk to Doctor John Smith, and have him come with us to help clarify the circumstances surrounding the Galinedorian incident."

"Sorry, Captain," said Spock, while McCoy grumbled something. "That should be the reception for Residence Nedentide," he added, pointing to the nearest entrance to the large building complex occupying most of the dome, surrounded by parks, walkways and clusters of smaller buildings. "I can come in and check whether the Doctor is there, while you check the grounds."

"No, we'll all come inside together. If he's there, I want to give him a chance to come with us peacefully." Not that they had much chance of forcing him to come with them if he didn't want to. They'd been forced to leave their phasers in the shuttle, since only the local security was allowed to carry weapons, and Kirk didn't harbor any illusions about the willingness of the local authorities to help enforce Starfleet arrest warrants against a supposed fellow academic.

They started down the path to the Residence, following the small crowd that had arrived with them. Kirk looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Doctor John Smith on the off-chance he was nearby. Spock was quiet, walking to Kirk's left, while Dr. McCoy strolled ahead, stopping here and there to peer inside a small shop or to exchange a few words with passersby. Soon, however, the doctor came back to Kirk's side and began commenting about the sights.

"You know, Jim, Residence Nedentide was originally designed by the Zankara main architecture school for their new university, but the war frustrated their plans and it was never built. Once they began planning the New Sapienza colony, the best ideas were collected from around the Federation, and the Nedentide design was chosen, with minimal adaptations, for the main residential complex for graduate students and visiting scholars. I have a friend who participated in the design board, and he told me about it. As you can see, it's shaped as an hexagon on the outside, but the interior wings meet each other at odd angles, seemingly without pattern. It's almost like a maze, encircling small interior gardens, many of which are enclosed to allow the reproduction of biomas from different planets. The idea is that the students would be able to find welcoming, familiar spots where they could sit and study. It may not be the largest university residence complex, but it certainly is the most sophisticated one, at least within the Federation."

"Doctor, there is a pattern for the design, it's inspired on the Zankara winter rose petal arrangement, and it's fractal in nature."

"I don't care, Spock. It's beautiful, and practical, the Zankara are remarkable architects-"

"Gentlemen, we're here," interrupted Kirk, as they arrived at the large doors for the main reception area. They entered the building, immediately noticing the many small groups of students sitting in benches or around small tables, talking or playing games. At the back of the large hall, there was a comparatively small desk, with a single receptionist, currently absorbed with a book. Kirk could see an eating area farther to the right, separated by a glass wall. Surprisingly there wasn't much noise, and Kirk wondered that it was probably due to some sort of acoustic covering in the ceiling. A very smart idea, in a building full of young, energetic students.

They approached the receptionist. Apparently the other newcomers had already been sent to their lodgings, and the girl was surprised to see the tall Vulcan suddenly appear before her. She straightened up and asked, "Sorry, what can I do for you? Do you have a reservation? I wasn't expecting anyone else today."

"No," said Spock, "we're here to talk with Doctor John Smith. Could you please tell us where we can find him?"

"Doctor John Smith?" She looked distrustfully at Kirk, who was standing just behind Spock. "Is he expecting you?"

"No, but I believe that if you tell him that Spock is here he'll come to see us."

Shooting another glance to Kirk, she replied, "I'm sorry, but he's not in his rooms. You can leave a message for him and I'll make sure he receives it."

"If he's in the building, we could look for him around in the common areas."

"Sorry, but entrance is permitted only to residents and accompanied guests."

Kirk was the first of the three to see the man. He was looking around when he saw the doors open, but from his position he didn't have a clear view to whoever had come in. Nonetheless, he did notice as the people inside the lobby turned to look, some standing, others straightening up, and he was curious as to whom had arrived. He walked around the closest group, hoping for a better view, and that was when he saw Doctor John Smith, a big grin on his face, striding across the lobby towards them. He stopped briefly to speak to some of the students who had flocked around him, as if he was a pop star. Kirk was astounded. Even those who'd been absorbed in their conversations had stopped to look at the Doctor. The man had presence. He felt a stab of envy. That role would usually be his, but here Starfleet was viewed with indifference or even hostility. He began to think that maybe they'd made a mistake in choosing the place where they'd meet the Doctor.

Spock and McCoy, absorbed with talking to the receptionist, finally turned when the Doctor said, in a loud, clear voice, "Ah, here you are! I was wondering if you'd come."

Spock raised an eyebrow, looking at the tall man approaching. "Doctor, we were looking for you." Kirk noticed that the receptionist perked up and opened a smile when she saw the man approaching. As did half the female students in the lobby, regardless of species, and a good part of the males as well, while many others looked embarrassed or intimidated.

"Indeed you were, my Vulcan friend! It's okay, Melina, they're friends," he said to the receptionist. She launched a last wary look towards Kirk, then turned to the Doctor, smiling.

"Do you want your correspondence, John?"

"Later, thanks, if there's anything. I believe we're going to walk around a bit, first."

"All right." She almost seemed to deflate at that.

"So, Kirk, Spock, and that's Doctor McCoy, brilliant! Would you please come with me? Since you came all the way here, the least I can do is show you around."

"Doctor, we can't stay long, we're here just-" began the captain.

"Oh, bollocks, your ship is a fine one, you can return to what you were doing pretty fast, isn't that right? You can afford to spend a few hours with a friend," the Doctor said, while leading them towards one of the inner doors. "Besides, you don't want all those fine young people to know what you really came here to do, hm?" he asked, looking hard at the Starfleet officers. He led them through the inner doors, towards an open area where there was a booth selling food and refreshments, as well as some chairs and tables. However, instead of stopping, he walked straight towards another set of doors to the right, pulling the Starfleet officers with him. "Come on, you don't want to put up a scene, do you?"

"We came looking for you, yes," Spock cut in, before his captain could say something inappropriate. "But we're also here to meet Professor Finch."

"Professor Finch, of course! He leads one of the teams in charge of the terraforming of this beautiful planet, did you know that? His is one of the finest research teams in this galaxy, in the field of theoretical bioengineering! His former students are disputed by all organizations with more than a passing interest in bioengineering. There are even a few working in Starfleet."

"He's brilliant, yes. I read that paper of his about the Cemery virus non-coding genome. Have you read it?" asked McCoy.

"Yes I did," he said distractedly, looking around the hallway as if in search for something. "Well, it doesn't matter. Let's come through here. There should be a quiet place where we can sit and talk, without eavesdroppers." And he led them through yet another set of doors, though these were more modest and barely discernible. They found themselves in a small open space. The enclosing walls had no windows, and there was only one other door leading out of the place. But there was a set of benches where they could sit and talk, as well as a table. The Doctor opened his bag and took two bottles of drink, which he passed along to Kirk and McCoy. He then took two more, gave one to Spock and opened his. "Go on, drink it. That's very refreshing, it's locally grown arango juice."

"Thanks," began Kirk, but the Doctor didn't give him a chance to talk.

"Now, your Professor Finch, he's out there with his team checking the terraformation progress and showing some of his visitors around. You know, there'll be a conference here in three days, where many of the most brilliant minds in his field will attend. It'll be a big event. Most of his former students are already with him, but they won't be back in town until tomorrow. So I believe you'll have to wait to meet him."

McCoy looked towards Kirk, "Jim?"

"All right, fine. We'll stay until tomorrow."

"That's brilliant! You can stay here in the Nedentide Dome."

"I don't think so," replied the captain, "we'll find quarters closer to the spaceport," and more secure ones, he thought. "And you'll come with us."

"You don't know what you'd be missing, captain! This residence here was built by-"

"You know we're here to arrest you," Kirk interrupted brusquely.

"Of course, I'm not stupid. You probably also have a lot of questions about the Galinedorian incident."

"So you'll come peacefully, right? Or will you try to escape again?"

The Doctor ignored the question. "I was hoping you'd come. I'd met T'Val and I got the impression that she'd tell you where I was going, but you didn't show up. I was about to try to call you."

"You wanted us to come?"

"Of course! There's something going to happen tomorrow, which I intend to prevent, and you being here will help make things easier."

"What's going to happen, Doctor?"

"A murder. A mass murder, to be exact. A group of mercenaries is about to attempt to blow up the whole compound where Professor Finch's team and his former students will meet tomorrow."


	4. Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some explanations are in order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No cliffhanger this time. Also, just remember, your reviews and comments help me write better, and faster.
> 
> OBS: Updated with corrections and additions.

* * *

 

Previously:

"What's going to happen, Doctor?"

"A murder. A mass murder, to be exact. A group of mercenaries is about to attempt to blow up the whole compound where Professor Finch's team and his former students will meet tomorrow."

* * *

Spock noticed the shock and irritation in the captain's face. The Doctor himself was serious, staring into Kirk's eyes. If this was a diversionary tactic on the Doctor's part to throw their interrogation, it wasn't going to work as intended. From what Spock had learned of the Doctor, it'd also probably be the truth, or at least part of it. He decided to take the lead, as he'd often do during difficult negotiations, to give his captain the opportunity to recover his balance.

"Doctor Smith-"

"Just Doctor, please."

"Doctor Smith," Spock repeated, and the Doctor turned to face him. His posture subtly relaxed, and he fixed his wide open, curious eyes on Spock. Interesting. Spock found himself wondering if he'd have the opportunity to play chess against this human. "This is only your third day in New Sapienza, and you've already managed to leave an impression on the students here." Spock'd noticed that at least 22 of the 31 people in the lobby, besides the receptionist, had watched raptly as the Doctor exchanged words with the Starfleet officers there.

"Well, yes," the Doctor began, before Spock could formulate his question. "A pair of troublemakers tried to crash a party, the night after my arrival, but I was nearby and convinced them to leave." He shrugged. "It sort of made me famous around here." Spock had heard of the incident from his contact. The two drunken bullies had been spoiling for a fight, and everyone'd been surprised when they instead had listened to the stranger and backed down. That, added to the Doctor's obvious natural charisma, could be enough to explain the students' reactions, but not why the Doctor risked interfering.

"I would have expected you to continue to keep a low profile, to avoid attracting attention to yourself, as you've been doing since Galinedoria."

"Have I?" The man squirmed in the chair, as if he was uncomfortable. "Well, I couldn't stand aside and let them harm other people. Besides, as I said, I really hoped to meet you here."

"We know you've been to Parangel before going to Galinedoria." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "The Vulcan ambassador was contacted by the government when you were arrested, but you managed to escape before she was allowed to talk to you. You found out about the cloaked Bird of Prey there, is that right?"

"Yes, well, not exactly, well... I can't really talk about it, not yet." Spock stared at the Doctor, and the Doctor looked back, serious.

"I've followed your trail throughout Federation space, Doctor. After Galinedoria, you went to Alander Prime, where the librarian remembered your visit, before the assassination of Professor Ka'h."

The Doctor turned his face away. "I tried to stop it. I failed."

"Did you know it was about to happen?"

"I knew something was going to happen, but not what, or when." He bent forward towards Spock, resting his elbows on his knees, earnest. "I've heard about a hit list, targeting some eminent biologists and medical researchers within the Federation. I've been following its trail ever since. Here is the first time I've managed to identify the hired killers."

"There hasn't been other assassination attempts. At least not since Alander Prime, Doctor."

"Not yet. That's why we have to stop them now."

"So that's what you've been doing at Geren III, and Elender Station. Checking possible victims."

The Doctor's eyes lit up, interested. "You've been trying to find me!"

"You left a very definite trail, speeding across Federation territory at Warp 4 and stopping at several research facilities on the way, until you came to Zikran 27 and talked to T'Val. It was only a matter of looking for the right clues."

"I'm impressed, Spock. It seems I might've underestimated you." The Doctor smiled, reclining back.

"Why were you asking for those biology and medicine papers?"

"Oh, were I? Brilliant!" he exclaimed, grinning widely. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Doctor." Spock noted to himself that the Doctor's enthusiastic reaction seemed quite illogical.

"Ah, yes. Sorry," he said, still grinning. Spock reckoned he didn't seem sorry at all. "You could say that I was trying to understand the reason why those researchers were the ones targeted for assassination."

"And your conclusion?"

"Well," he said, extending the vowel. "I expect your good Doctor McCoy will be able to tell us something about that."

Before McCoy could say something, though, the captain decided to rejoin the conversation. "Doctor Smith, why did you come here, even before you knew the next target would be Professor Finch?"

The Doctor frowned as Kirk said his name. "I didn't know, for certain, when it'd happen, but as Professor Ka'h was the first name in the list, and Professor Finch the second, with many of his students and associates also on the list, I guessed they'd likely come here next. Then I heard you were also in this sector, and I hoped to catch up with you."

"Where's this list? I'd like to have a look at it."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't manage to get a copy, I just memorized some of the names."

"So we only have your word to go on that."

The Doctor crossed his arms. "If I had more evidence maybe I wouldn't've needed to come to you."

"And there's a very good question," Kirk said, leaning forward. "Why do you want us to help you catch these killers? Why do you think we'd be willing to go with you?"

The Doctor looked back at the captain for a moment, serious. "I admit we haven't parted in the best of circumstances at Galinedoria, and I'm sorry for that. But at least you know me. I'm not your enemy, and I came to consider you my friends. Besides, I know you have a lot of experience in less than usual situations, and I trust you to do what you believe is right. We have to stop these killers, the local security force doesn't have experience with this sort of professional mercenaries, and it'd take longer than we have to try to convince them to do something. Please, Captain Kirk, trust me, just this time."

Kirk stared back, arms crossed. This time, however, Doctor McCoy decided to intervene.

"Jim, I say we go with him, and check these guys. If they're trying to kill Professor Finch, I guess the locals will need our help anyway."

Doctor Smith nodded towards the _Enterprise_ 's doctor. "Thank you, Doctor."

"All right, Bones," sighed Kirk, "we'll do it your way. Tell me then, Doctor Smith, who are these assassins? More Wamarraki?"

"Possibly, yes."

"How many are them?"

"I've seen three of them, and I can recognize their faces, but I noticed them using communicators to talk to at least one more that I haven't seen."

"How do you know they'll go for explosives?"

"I don't know for sure, but it makes sense, since the compound will be off-limits to outsiders once the visitors begin arriving. It'll be a high-security event, with some high-profile political leaders attending. That's also why I believe they'll try to do it soon, after the Professor's team and most of his students have arrived but before the full security measures are in place for the other guests. I doubt they'd use advanced high yield explosives, since that'd certainly bring the attention of Starfleet Intelligence. They've tried to disguise Professor Ka'h's shooting as unintentional, and I believe they'll attempt some form of misdirection here as well. Maybe using the local ecological protestors as an excuse."

Spock had discussed the local Far'ni'ta group with McCoy on the way from the spaceport. They were just a tiny group, but very vocal, and more than willing to take more violent measures to bring attention to their cause, which was to get the Federation to leave New Sapienza unterraformed. They argued that the planet was an unparallelled opportunity to observe the emergence of life in a pristine environment. They also argued that something must be preventing primitive life from evolving too far in the sector, and colonizing the planet was risking retribution from whatever forces were at work here. McCoy's romantic views had led him to sympathize with the Far'ni'ta, leading Spock to remark on the illogicity of it all.

"All right," said Kirk, interrupting Spock's musings. "How do you suggest we proceed?"

"Well, they've rented a house in the residential dome next to the compound's," the Doctor stated. "I've been there a couple of times, trying to find out what they were doing, but I think they've noticed me walking around. If I go there again they'll most likely recognize me. I suggest Mr. Spock could go and try to check their house to see if we could catch them by surprise. It's important to get them alive if possible, so we can learn about who are behind the assassinations and why, and who are the other targets."

"Why Spock? I can go instead," said Kirk.

"Sorry, Jim," said McCoy, "but you're sort of obvious in this Starfleet uniform, they'll see you coming from a mile away. Besides, no one will look twice at a Vulcan in an university."

"He's right, Captain," said Spock. He spent five point two seconds examining alternatives, but concluded that any other option would carry too much of a risk. It was illogical to hope for another solution. He watched as Kirk and the Doctor discussed details, dutifully noting them down for later reference while he drank the rest of his surprisingly satisfactory arango juice bottle. He found himself wishing they could all come together, but dismissed the thought as resulting from exhaustion. He decided it'd be logical to take extra time to rest and meditate once they were back to the _Enterprise_.

They left Residence Nedentide and took the ground transportation again, towards a shopping mall complex next to the residential dome where the suspects had rented their house. Spock was absorbed in his thoughts. The captain was now talking normally with McCoy and Doctor Smith, about New Sapienza. It seemed the Doctor knew quite a bit about the colony, and he was regaling them with stories. But he could see Kirk was still distrustful toward the Doctor. That was no surprise since Spock also wasn't ready to fully trust the Doctor, but Spock suspected there was something more to Kirk's attitude than that.

He knew Doctor McCoy was also worried about Kirk. Ever since they left the spaceport, every now and then he'd glance towards their captain, trying to be discreet. Their previous discussion, in the way in, had been mostly for show, falling into their usual, easy patterns that let both of them continue to pay attention to whatever worried them. He'd have to ask McCoy exactly what was worrying him about the captain.

Spock left the other three in a cafe near the walkway connecting the mall to the residential dome, and began following the Doctor's instructions on how to get to the suspects' house. It was easy for him, dressed in the traditional Vulcan garb, to fit in with the other academics walking around. He only hoped Doctor McCoy would manage to keep the peace between Doctor Smith and Captain Kirk until his return.


	5. Doctor and Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> McCoy and the Doctor talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. On top of work, I'm also dealing with illness in the family, so my writing has been strongly affected. I seldom manage to write what I've planned to. On the plus side, this chapter hadn't been planned originally, but as I tried to finish the next, crucial, chapter, I realized that this one simply had to happen. Though I'm less than comfortable writing Doctor McCoy, I believe this chapter became something even more interesting than I'd first imagined, and hopefully you'll like it too. Note that I've also made some corrections and additions to the previous chapters in this episode. Thanks for the anonymous review, I've also tried to make it more obvious who's talking when in the previous dialogues, though I've tried to avoid making it too slow and repetitive. I hope no one'll have trouble following the dialogue in this chapter. Please tell me if it works for you.
> 
> I'm slowly getting back into schedule, writing material for the next episodes. However, preparing each chapter for posting remains a challenge, since I'm still without a beta reader. Anyway, I'm committed to finishing the first part of the story some time around the 50th years anniversary of the series. The first part will consist of the first four complete episodes, together with the prologue and interludes.

McCoy watched while Kirk gave last minute directions to Spock. The Vulcan was listening patiently, while it was clear that the captain dearly wished he could go as well. At the _Enterprise_ 's doctor's side, Doctor John Smith was talking nonstop about something or other. He hadn't stopped talking the whole way from Residence Nedentide up to the quaint coffee shop where they'd chosen to wait for Spock's return. Kirk had used the opportunity to try to pry some answers from their talkative companion, but Smith had easily avoided answering the captain's not so subtle proddings, jumping from subject to subject, so that McCoy had completely lost track of the conversation long before they'd arrived. Spock, on the other hand, had only said something when directly asked by one of the others. McCoy realized he was also worried about his pointy-eared friend. He seemed unusually introspective, even for a Vulcan. McCoy'd even tried provoking him, but with little response.

He automatically hummed in agreement as Smith made a slight pause in his monologue. Darn, that man could talk! He watched him from the corner of his eye. The man seemed completely focused on the captain and the first officer who were talking a dozen meters away. McCoy wondered how the other managed to run off his mouth so much while being so obviously distracted. He tried to focus on what the man was saying, as a few words caught his attention.

"Of course, they're wrong. The Asicati couldn't care less about the ecology of the planet. But they did get one thing right, these eco-protestors. Life in this sector is condemned. Of course, the catastrophe won't happen until a hundred thousand years in the future, instead of in a hundred years or so as they're expecting it, but it's a very good guess anyway."

McCoy half-turned, shocked. Was Smith stating that the Far'ni'ta had a point? He remembered his previous discussion with Spock, when for the sake of the argument he'd assumed their point of view, but he didn't really believe in their fantasies. Smith, however, didn't stop there, completely oblivious to the effect his words were having on McCoy. "The reason, of course, has nothing to do with mythical god-like beings residing in subspace. Though it does have to do with subspace itself. Incredible that they've managed to get so many pieces right while building up a completely nonsensical argument. But that's humans for you, incredibly brilliant in one moment, and astoundingly stupid in the next. Sometimes I really wonder why I like you so much."

McCoy was stunned. Had he heard it correctly? He continued to listen, openmouthed, to Smith's long-winded monologue, while he tried to make sense of the words he'd just heard. Why would he put himself outside of humanity? Smith was increasingly animated with his own explanation, though still so focused on the two other Starfleet officers that he ignored the doctor at his side. "It's like the supervolcanos on a geologically active planet," Smith explained, "such as Earth itself. Every few million years, a mantle plume would blast through the crust, transforming the surface, like in the Hawaiian islands. But the crust continues to move relative to the plume, so every time the explosion will hit a slightly different spot. Except that, in the case of the Faren-Ortean rift, it's dragging the binary star and the surrounding nebula along with it. The last explosion, five million years ago, caused the third star in the system to turn into a supernova. The resulting black hole was ejected from the system, carrying enough momentum to leave the two other stars trapped by the rift, in the center of a dead sector where all life was disrupted by the rift energy release. That escaping black hole has left the sector, and will pass near enough to the Comilla system to terrify the local population in two Earth centuries from now. Meanwhile, the rift subspace oscillations have disturbed the trapped stars, resulting in that fascinating emission nebula you've been studying. Unfortunately, the next cyclical rift activation will blast the nebula away and affect all the planets in the sector, resetting the clock on life evolution once again. Luckily for them, at that point the rift will detach itself from the gravitational fabric of the galaxy, so the following explosion will happen more than a thousand parsecs away from the galactic disk's plane."

It was clear that the whole monologue wasn't intended to be heard by the medic, but he was able to follow enough of it to understand the gist of the argument. He continued listening, as Smith gestured towards some imaginary audience. "You know, the catastrophe that created the rift is really ancient. It didn't even happen in this galaxy, but in another one, billions of years ago. A severe conflagration, so intense that the fabric of space and time itself was torn, leaving an indelible scar. Then this galaxy came along, and the rift has been dragged along with it for the last hundred million years, activating star formation and causing innumerable supernovas, one of the reasons this sector is so incredibly rich in rare minerals that people came here to mine the resources and to study its secrets."

McCoy wondered how the man could possibly know so much about this subspace rift. Then it suddenly clicked. The odd behavior, his distancing from humanity and his very advanced and detailed knowledge in so many different fields of knowledge, all of it strongly suggested he wasn't a normal human being. Perhaps not even a human being at all. McCoy knew that there existed some very advanced civilizations in the galaxy, a number of which the Federation had already met, and a few others they'd only heard about. And there were a few humanoid species that were indistinguishable, externally, from human beings. It was quite possible that Smith belonged to a particularly advanced one. Maybe he was an explorer like them. It was also possible that, like Trelane, he was only disguising himself as human. McCoy shivered. If this Doctor Smith was anything like Trelane, this could quickly become a nightmare. McCoy hadn't sensed any danger from the man, but that didn't mean he couldn't be mistaken.

Smith hadn't stopped talking, though McCoy realized that the subject had somehow moved back to the mosses covering most of New Sapienza's land area. "Doctor Smith," tried McCoy, but he continued to ignore him. He stepped in front of the other and crossed his arms, until Smith finally focused on him.

Startled, Smith sheepishly pushed his hands into his trouser pockets. "Well, er... Don't mind me. I tend to babble sometimes."

"Really. I should be offended that you took such care of what you said in front of Kirk and Spock but completely forgot about me."

"It seems I've underestimated you too," Smith grinned, surprising McCoy. "You're brilliant, yes you are."

"You're not human, are you? Why all this charade?"

"Please don't tell them," the alien asked, looking towards the two other Starfleet officers.

"Why not?"

"It's crucial," he said, earnestly looking at McCoy, who noticed that his face had dropped the happy demeanor of earlier. It was almost as if this was a different person. "They'll learn it in time, but not yet."

"They probably suspect it already," said McCoy, bending the truth a bit.

"Yes, they may suspect it, but once they know for sure they'll have questions I can't answer yet."

"Can't, or won't?"

Doctor Smith shifted. "They'll ask questions, and when I don't answer, they'll try to lock me up. Please," he looked beseechingly towards the _Enterprise_ 's doctor. "It's really important."

"Let me guess, otherwise something bad will happen. It's not just about Professor Finch, is it?"

"No. Your friends' lives, your ship, will be at risk. The Federation itself, as you know it, is at stake. If they learn about me too soon, they won't accept my help." McCoy shivered at Smith's serious tone.

"And I should trust that you'll help us."

"Yes," he said, completely serious.

"How much of what you said earlier was a lie?"

"Everything I told you and your friends before was the truth," Smith tried to reassure him.

"Just not the whole truth, hm?" But Doctor Smith didn't answer, just stared back. However McCoy noticed that Spock was about to leave, and there wasn't any more time to interrogate the alien before the captain turned back to wait with them. He was angry, and also afraid, but he felt that the alien was being truthful. He considered that the other hadn't threatened him to keep his secret, just asked for his trust. "We're not finished, we'll talk later," he murmured, and indicated his approaching captain. The alien silently nodded back.

McCoy turned towards Kirk. It was obvious he'd seen them talking, because he was watching them curiously, eyes glinting. He looked at McCoy, raising his eyebrows. McCoy shrugged and nodded almost imperceptibly towards Doctor Smith, who was now back to his bubbly, grinning self.

"Captain Kirk!" Smith said. "Good of you to join our conversation!"

"More like a monologue," grumbled McCoy, amusedly.

"I see that you two have hit it off," Kirk said. "Why don't I go to pick up the coffee, while you finish off whatever you're talking about?"

"Just tea for me," asked Smith. "And biscuits, their ginger biscuits are wonderful!" he added cheekily. McCoy glared at him, but Smith ignored him, watching Kirk instead. The captain just shrugged, and left them to talk among themselves. McCoy knew Jim would be very curious to hear what he'd learned about Smith, and he wondered what he could say. That is, if Smith managed to convince him to keep his secret. He gathered his thoughts and tried to work out which questions to ask first.

He motioned Smith towards one of the small tables at the open area before the coffee shop and sat, facing the shop's entrance. None of the tables was occupied, so he assumed it was safe to talk there. Smith sat in front of him and opened his arms. "Here I am. What do you want to know?"

"Who are you, really?"

"The Doctor."

"Just the Doctor? Doctor who?"

"Exactly!" The Doctor beamed.

"I won't get a better answer, will I?"

"That's who I am, that's how everyone knows me." He shrugged.

"Why do you want to help us?"

"Because I'm here, and that's what I do."

"You go around helping people."

"Yup!" The Doctor was grinning again, and McCoy wondered if that was his usual expression.

"Why us?"

"Why not?"

"You tell me. Why not the Wamarraki, or whoever it is behind them?"

"Well, I don't like it when someone tries to subjugate or destroy others," he said somberly. It almost sounded like a warning, McCoy thought.

"So you go stumbling into other people's affairs and get yourself involved, is that it?"

"More or less, yeah." The Doctor was watching McCoy, as if challenging him to mention that interference was against the Prime Directive. At least that's what he guessed the other was thinking. Since he himself had never been very fond of the Prime Directive, he chose to stay quiet. Besides, it was quite possible that the Doctor's civilization, whatever it was, had something equivalent to the Prime Directive, so the Doctor could be a renegade from their point of view. He decided to probe carefully in that direction.

"If you're not human, what are you, then?"

"No species you've ever heard of. Really," he added, seeing McCoy's doubtful look, "I come from very far away. You'll probably never meet another of my kind."

"You don't know a Trelane, by any chance, do you?"

"Trelane? I may have heard that name before, but no, I don't think I know them, no."

"Why do you look so much like humans? Is this some sort of disguise?"

He laughed. "No, it's rather the other way around. You look like us. Curious, don't you think, that so many intelligent species in your galaxy fit the so-called 'humanoid' template?"

"Do your people have anything to do with it?"

"No, I don't think so, they don't like to meddle with others," he said with a frown. "At least, not directly..." He trailed off, lost in thought.

"Then why are you here?" McCoy asked, after a moment.

"Well," the Doctor seemed embarrassed, "my people don't like leaving our planet much, they're content to observe from a distance, but that was never enough for me. So I left, and I've been traveling ever since. Though I didn't plan to come here, it just happened."

"If that's so, why do you think you can help us? Do you know who's threatening the Federation?"

"Well, that's one of the things I can't tell you just yet. It's possible that I know whoever it is that's plotting against the Federation, but even if I haven't met them before, I'm your best chance of defeating whatever they have planned. I have a lot of experience in this sort of thing," he grinned again.

"You know, we've dealt with many serious threats on our own, before."

"If I thought you'd be able to handle this one by yourselves, you wouldn't have me pestering you any longer."

"So, you're like, what? An investigator for the intergalactic police? Once you find out who's involved you'll call in the big shots?"

"No, it's just me."

"Just you." This man, alien, was really arrogant, McCoy thought. Or much more powerful than he was letting on. "And you can stop this extremely dangerous threat all on your own."

"Not on my own, I'm counting on working with you, but yes. If I can't handle it, there's hardly anyone else who can."

McCoy considered the alien before him. Human looking, yes, but his eyes now spoke of knowledge and power well beyond human experience. "What do you want in return?"

"In return? Nothing, as I said, that's what I do. Once you can handle it, I'll leave. I don't ask for anything in return."

"Just leave? That's no good." McCoy recalled reading novels with this type of lone ranger, would-be hero. He never dreamed he'd meet someone who'd want to fit the stereotype. "Once this is finished, you must promise to stay, at least for long enough to celebrate with us."

The Doctor didn't seem happy. He stared back for a moment, considering, then said, "All right, if you still want me around, once it's finished I'll stay for a bit, if I'm able to."

"That's better. By the way, when will I be able to tell the captain who you really are?"

"I expect it won't be long. We'll meet again, and once I can I'll tell them myself, so you won't need to."

"You don't intend to stay around and let the captain take you to the _Enterprise_ , do you?"

"No," the Doctor said. "It's not time yet."

"You know, you could simply tell him what you've told me. He'd understand."

"Maybe. Then again, maybe not. He doesn't trust me yet. Even if he chose to believe me, you've had a number of negative experiences with previously unknown, hostile lifeforms that'd warrant a cautious approach. He might eventually let me go, but I don't think he'd be willing to accept my help without me explainining things that I really, really can't explain just yet."

"Why not?" McCoy asked, but the Doctor didn't reply, just tilted his head and raised one eyebrow. The _Enterprise_ 's doctor pondered the issue. He trusted Jim would not be moved by fear or prejudice, and that his friend was a much better judge of character than he himself was. However he had to acknowledge that Jim was also a ship's captain, with responsibilities towards the crew and Starfleet as a whole. Even if he believed that a different course of action might be better in a given situation, it'd take an exceptional set of circumstances to make him go against rules and regulations, or trust a stranger with the safety of his crew. Besides, Jim Kirk wasn't behaving like his usual self. He had to wonder what it had to do with the alien before him.

The Doctor was looking at him expectantly. McCoy smirked. "But you believe I'll trust you."

"Will you? I hope so. Are you satisfied?"

"Just one more question," McCoy said. "Why is the captain so wary of you?" He carefully watched the Doctor's reaction to his question. He thought he could see pain and deep sadness in the other's eyes, though he wasn't sure if he was reading it correctly.

"Your captain has very good instincts," the Doctor said, serious. "I am dangerous. No, I'm not a threat to you, I promise. But," he grimaced, "people around me sometimes get hurt."

"I can understand that, I guess. Jim's the same. But if I'm to keep your secret I want you to promise you won't knowingly put them in danger, or risk their lives in whatever scheme it is you're planning."

"I swear," the Doctor vowed solemnly, "I'll sooner lay down my life rather than risk theirs, if it's within my power."

"That'll do," McCoy replied, impressed.

"Now, have you decided what you're going to tell Kirk about me?" the Doctor asked, grinning mischievously. McCoy was surprised to see how quickly the Doctor's mood could change.

"I can always claim doctor-patient privilege and say nothing," he replied.

"Wait, I'm not your patient!" the other complained.

"Not yet. But you only have to tell me what your injuries were in Galinedoria, so I can evaluate if you might need some follow-up treatment. I admit I'm curious. By the way, how did you manage to knock Mr. Rahdi unconscious back then?"

"He simply fell asleep," the Doctor said, smiling. "He was suffering from insomnia, and he's very suggestible. I'm very adept at suggestion, myself. He wasn't hurt or in any danger, I promise."

"I see." McCoy thought there must be more behind the incident, but it wasn't yet time to push the Doctor farther than he was willing to go. "And your injuries?"

"Nothing too serious, well, yes, it was serious," he relented. "That's why I had to leave while I could. Concussion, four broken ribs, bruised kidneys and liver..." He trailed off. Surprised, McCoy watched his eyes become unfocused. He immediately forgot his growing horror at the description of the alien's past injuries and became worried.

"What is it? Are you all right?"

"There's something wrong," the Doctor said, moving his head slowly from left to right, as if looking at something far away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intend to post the next chapter on August 1st at the latest, hopefully earlier, unless Real Life intervenes again.
> 
> On the Far'ni'ta "eco-protestors", remember that Star Trek has an optimistic stance towards technological progress, so McCoy sympathizes with them but doesn't really understand their reasoning. The Doctor, otoh, behaves as he typically does, and doesn't take them seriously. I intend to (possibly) write a short story later, proeminently featuring them as protagonists. They're a small local group protesting the terraforming of the planet mostly on spiritual grounds, and are in fact a criticism on Federation society and culture.


	6. Coffee and Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not even a nice, restful coffee break would go undisrupted...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG it's already been two and a half months since my last update! I apologize to you who've been waiting for this story. My father died, and my muse flew away, and for weeks I couldn't settle for long enough to find the thread for this story again. Now, at long last, I'm back. Luckily I wrote down all the major points of this story well before I began writing it, and I find I'm still happy with where it's going. However, I'm still trying to convince my muse to cooperate, so don't expect great writing for the next few chapters. Besides, I'm still lacking a beta reader for this story... Anyway I've already decided I'll go back through the whole story once the fourth episode is done, and rewrite the worst segments, before going ahead with the next part of the plot.
> 
> I give my heartfelt thanks to the handful of readers who gave me feedback and prodded me ahead with this story: if it weren't for you, I don't know if I'd've managed to resume writing it. My mind wanders, and I've collected plots for at least a half-dozen completely new and exciting stories in these last weeks. But focusing enough to write something has been particularly hard.
> 
> Now, it's been a while, and you may either have forgotten what this is all about, or perhaps you've just stumbled upon this story. Therefore I believe it's time for a:
> 
> RECAP:  
> It wasn't long into the second year of the _Enterprise_ 's five-year mission under Captain Kirk, when the captain and his first officer met a mysterious individual on Galinedoria Beta IV. The local government had been ousted, and the plotters wanted to frame the _Enterprise_ crew with a crime to justify their backing off from joining the Federation. They captured the away team and were planning to set them up so their escape would end in a shoot-out, forcing the _Enterprise_ to come in closer to the surface and shoot at the prison facility in an attempt to rescue them. If that didn't work, they had a mercenary cloaked warship waiting to force the situation. However the away team met someone, calling himself just "Doctor", who helped them escape without serious injuries to either side, and also helped them unmask and defeat the mercenaries. Therefore a serious diplomatic incident was avoided, not to mention the thousands of Galinedorian civilian deaths the plotters intended to cause. But before they could thank him, or ask him any of the many questions they had in mind, such as who he was or what he had been doing there, or how he knew so much about the mercenaries involved, the Doctor knocked his guard out and slipped away.
> 
> The crew, and even the captain, didn't have time to wonder about the mysterious Doctor for long. There were too many mysteries and too many adventures in the _Enterprise_ 's continuing mission. However, the Vulcan first officer, Spock, found himself fascinated by the stranger, and tried his best to track him down. In spite of indifference or even annoyance on the part of the various Starfleet departments, he finally managed to find a clue to the Doctor's movements, through his apparent interest in some academic papers. He predicted that the Doctor should be about to visit an university colony in the same sector the _Enterprise_ happened to be patrolling, and Kirk agreed in diverting the _Enterprise_ there, hoping to catch the elusive "Doctor" and get some answers. In fact, they soon found out that the Doctor was expecting their arrival, having tried to attract their attention to himself before without success. He told them about an imminent attempt on the lives of an important academic and his research group, and asked for their help. While Spock went ahead to scout the mercenaries' safe house, the Doctor and McCoy talked, and the _Enterprise_ medical officer found out the other was in fact an alien. The Doctor tried to convince McCoy to trust him and keep his secret, when his attention was diverted by something.

* * *

 

Previously:

"What is it? Are you all right?"

"There's something wrong," the Doctor said, moving his head slowly from side to side, as if looking for something beyond the horizon.

* * *

McCoy was about to say something when, in a blur of motion, the Doctor threw himself over him and they fell to the ground together. Dazed, McCoy looked at the man now laying at his side, who was grimacing as if in pain. The Doctor had somehow managed to tip the table over as they fell, and they were laying next to the square granite tabletop, their chairs overturned around them. Before he could wonder what was happening, he heard a low whine, and a blast hit the table, throwing fragments in their direction. Someone was shooting at them. However the tabletop was thick and strong enough to stop and absorb most of the blast. They were safe for the moment, as long as they stayed behind its limited cover.

McCoy, keeping his head down, knelt at the Doctor's side and quickly began examining him for wounds. It didn't take long before he found a hole in the man's overcoat, where it was shot through. He pushed the coat aside, and he could see that the shot had hit his right side. The clothes were burnt, but thankfully the material hadn't melted, just charred. He began to gingerly remove the larger fragments so he could examine the wound. Though ugly, it wasn't as serious as it looked at first sight.

At that moment a strong hand grabbed his arm. "Doctor McCoy, what are you doing?" said his patient, while struggling to sit.

"Lie down, you are injured!" he ordered, but the man -alien, he reminded himself- was plainly intent on ignoring his orders. "At least keep your head down, we're being shot at!"

"Hush! They'll hear you."

"It's not as if they don't know we're here," he replied, but in a lower voice. "Calm down, don't try to move, you've been shot," he said, while picking his tricorder to assess the damage. The Doctor began shrugging out of the overcoat, and McCoy moved to stop him, "Hey, you're injured!"

"I know, but that's not important," the Doctor said, pushing his hands away and taking a long, silvery instrument from his pocket. He began buzzing it around, while asking, "We don't have time. Where's Captain Kirk?"

"Jim?" McCoy raised his head and turned, being careful to stay behind the cover. He could see some people running away from the shop. Then he saw the captain, trying to sneak around the tables on the other side of the food court, taking advantage of the distraction. He tried to peek over the table. He couldn't see the shooter, but there was a kiosk, with a couple of benches on the terrace, roughly in the center of the plaza, in the opposite direction to the coffee shop entrance. He guessed the kiosk's terrace would be the most likely place for a shooter to hide. Besides a number of low hedges and small trees, there weren't other hiding places in the plaza. The surrounding edifices were too far away. "I believe he's trying to approach the shooter, but he'll be seen! There's not enough cover..." He was trying to see more, but the Doctor pulled him down, just before another blast hit the table again.

"Be careful! And take your coat off!"

"No, I'm all right, it's you who have been shot."

"You don't understand. They must be using some sort of slow-charging, high-power blaster, which can pass undetected through most scanners. An assassin's weapon. This tabletop won't protect us for long."

At that moment they heard someone shouting from the other side, and they turned to look. A handful of local police officers were approaching, but at that moment a different whine was heard, followed by a brilliant flash. When it dissipated, McCoy saw that at least two of the officers were wounded and were being dragged back by their colleagues.

"Brave, but stupid. Most of the police here carry only short-ranged stun guns. They probably never faced a situation like this before."

"I must go help them," McCoy said, but the Doctor, with surprising strength, kept him down.

"No, hear me, Doctor McCoy. That was a wide-angle unfocused blast, they've probably only suffered superficial injuries. The shooter doesn't care about them. We are the real targets."

"What?" McCoy asked, confused.

"Think, Leonard," and the Doctor fixed him with his eyes. "The shooter was targeting you, but they know I was hit instead. This table won't stand many more shots. Give me your coat. I'll try to distract them, make them think I'm you trying to escape, so they'll focus on shooting me. That'll give Kirk a chance to approach them."

"You're wounded! I'll do it."

"If you try you'll be killed. I can use this," he showed his silver tool, "to detect when he's about to fire and duck in time."

"But-" tried McCoy. Then he flinched, as another powerful blast hit the table, sending dust and small fragments crumbling from their side.

"No buts, please trust me now, Doctor Leonard McCoy. I can save your captain but I must have your help."

Still hesitant, McCoy took his coat off and exchanged it with the Doctor's, who was now moving as if he hadn't even been injured. Gesturing for him to stay put, the Doctor glanced briefly over their cover and rushed towards a nearby table, jumping midway to roll over the ground and thus managing to avoid yet another blast, which flew over his body to blow up a planter. The _Enterprise_ 's doctor watched him, following his progress worriedly.

The Doctor was running towards yet another table, and this time the shot was delayed until he was behind cover and the blast hit the table instead. He was getting ready to move again when a yell was heard. Kirk had surprised the alien mercenary and was struggling with him on the kiosk's terrace. Both McCoy and the Doctor rushed towards them, the Doctor running up the kiosk's stairs before McCoy. When he reached the terrace, McCoy saw the Doctor crumpled to the ground, on the other side, still trying to point his strange tool towards the struggling pair. It seemed however that the Doctor's appearance had been enough to tip the balance, because the assassin was now barely holding himself up. Kirk finally managed to disarm his opponent, throwing the weapon over the edge and knocking him to the ground, apparently unconscious, while the captain wheezed, hands on his knees, standing next to him. Before McCoy could approach the pair, the Doctor jumped from the ground, grabbed Kirk and pushed him back, throwing him to the ground and falling over the captain. An instant later a sickening noise was heard, and McCoy watched horrified as the upper torso of the alien blew up, spreading gore around. If Kirk had still been standing near the mercenary, he would probably have been seriously injured. The Doctor had just saved him, again.

* * *

 

McCoy used the tricorder again. "Stop it, Bones! I've already said, I'm all right! It's just blood," his captain protested.

"Blood from your nose and this cut on your forehead, a cracked rib, and a collection of bruises. At least there's no concussion this time. It'd still be better if we went to the medical post."

"There's no time. Spock'll contact us soon, we have to go to meet him."

"These mercenaries can wait. You're injured."

"No, Bones, Doctor Smith is right. If we don't go as soon as possible, they'll make their move."

They both turned their heads to watch the strange man the captain had just mentioned. The whole area was swarming with the local police, but in their midst stood the Doctor talking to the police chief as if he was in command. The police chief nodded respectfully and left, while the Doctor turned and waved to them, before walking towards another group of officers who were around the body. They'd switched back their coats and McCoy could see the patched hole in the Doctor's overcoat. The man moved as if he hadn't been injured, but having seen the wound, McCoy wondered how much pain he was hiding. He hadn't even accepted the painkillers McCoy had offered him.

"What did he say, Bones? Is he really from Starfleet Intelligence as he just claimed to the police?" He was certainly acting as if he knew exactly what he was doing and had the authority to order the police around.

"I can't say, Jim, we didn't talk about it."

"What did you talk about then? Did he tell you anything about himself at all?"

"A little, but I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"He told me in confidence, he's my patient."

Kirk turned, eyes wide in disbelief. "Tell me this, at least. Do you believe we can trust him?"

"Yes, Jim, I do," McCoy said, more firmly than he felt. "He's a good man, even if he's a bit strange."

"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one. Well, at least the mercenaries won't know their partner is dead, so they might wait for him." They had listened when the Doctor ordered the first officers to arrive on the scene to claim though the radio that there was at least one dead and many injured, but that the shooter had escaped and they had no idea what they looked like. He'd even ordered a token attempt to close the traffic to prevent an hypothetical escape. Later he'd explained that it was quite possible that the other mercenaries were listening on to the local police's frequencies, who weren't very well protected against eavesdroppers. That, and the Doctor's claim that he'd managed to jam and short-circuit the shooter's communicator made it likely the others would be alert but more curious than wary after they heard of the event.

A trio of grey cars, identical to the ones available to university staff, pulled in, and a man jumped out to talk to the Doctor, who turned and signaled to the _Enterprise_ officers. "That's our ride, Bones, let's go!"

But when they came closer the Doctor said, "Doctor McCoy, this is Officer Kenall, he'll take you to Nedentide Station to wait for us."

"No way in hell, I'm coming with you!"

"The shooter tried to kill you, Doctor McCoy. You're not a fighter, there's no reason to put your life at risk," the Doctor tried to argue.

"Are you sure, Bones? Doctor Smith is right, I don't want to see you injured," added Kirk.

McCoy shot an angry look at the captain, feeling betrayed. "I won't let you go on yourself. I'm a Starfleet officer, I can take care of myself. How many times have I faced danger by your side? You're insane if you think you're going without me! You too, Doctor Smith!"

Kirk shrugged and looked at Doctor Smith, who grinned. "All right, if you're that sure, let's go!"

They got on the first of the cars, and Kenall passed phasers to each of them. McCoy noticed that the Doctor was clearly unhappy with his phaser, which he pushed inside one of the ample pockets of his overcoat. Besides the driver and Kenall, there was another officer in their car, named Joan, and five on each of the other cars, all with at least some weapons training. On the way to the residential dome where the mercenaries' house was situated, Doctor Smith explained his plan. The other two cars would go ahead and park some distance away from the house, so the officers could get out of the cars and approach unobserved. Their job would be to surround the house and prevent any of the mercenaries escaping. Meanwhile, the first acr would go as close as possible to the house while still out of sight, and they'd wait inside the car until they could talk to Spock and decide how best to break into the house. It'd be the job of the three _Enterprise_ officers, plus Doctor Smith and Officers Joan and Kenall, the best trained officers of the local police, to catch the mercenaries alive, if possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There should be three more chapters to this episode, and I'll try to finish it before the end of January. This chapter has been revised, especially the second part.


	7. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too few people to go against dangerous enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm surprised and honored to see so many of you following and favoriting this story. As a thank you, here's a belated gift for all my readers, the last chapter of the year! It was unbelievably difficult to write. I found that I'm not that good in writing action scenes, and it's even worse with the difficulty I'm having to keep the focus in order to finish writing anything. Anyway this chapter has grown too large so I've decided to break it in two, so the action ifself will happen in the next chapter, that should follow as soon as possible. Note that I've edited the last section of the previous chapter to make it clear that McCoy is convinced that the Doctor is really not human, though he hadn't used the tricorder on him.

Kirk closed his communicator. Smith had asked for a team from the _Enterprise_ to help search for any explosive devices the assassins might have already planted around the research compound, and Kirk had agreed with him that it was a wise move. He'd put Scotty in charge of assembling and equipping the team, but they'd have to come down on another shuttle, since the use of transporters was still out of the question. For the moment, it was just the three of them, plus Smith and the local police. He glanced at McCoy. Bones was watching Smith, who was now using his tool to do something with the phaser he'd received from Officer Kenall. Kirk breathed, trying to ignore the noise from the small silvery wand tool. He missed Spock's reassuring, logical presence.

They were driving down the tunnels, on their way to the residential compound. The car couldn't use the walkway near the cafe, and anyway its exit, close to their targets' house, could be easily monitored by the assassins. Therefore they'd chosen a longer, circuitous route, which would let them approach from the other side of the residential dome. Doctor Smith's plan, however incomplete, was sound, and the best they could think of with the limited information they already had. The captain was forced to admit that the man seemed to know what he's doing. He certainly transpired confidence, reassuring the nervous police officers who'd never faced this kind of situation before, and even-handedly discussing the options with Kirk. The captain however felt rather at odds, not knowing which of the three personas he'd already met, if any, was the real face of Doctor John Smith. The wounded, worried traveler, the effusive and mysterious man they met at Residence Nedentide or, now, the professional, self-assured intelligence agent who'd taken charge of the police team.

It was clear that Doctor Smith had worked with the military before, He knew how to command attention and make others follow his orders. But Kirk guessed he wasn't military himself. He seemed less than comfortable with all the formality. Sometimes Kirk could also catch a haunted look in his eyes, despite the grin plastered on his face. Then he looked old and weary, and in pain. Not nearly as much pain as he'd looked on the _Enterprise_ , when they were orbiting Galinedoria, but he was clearly injured, though he knew how to hide it. If it wasn't for Spock's telling of how he'd masked it before, Kirk might've missed the signs again. McCoy had caught it too, and he'd offered something that Smith had finally, reluctantly, accepted, but afterwards he'd clearly felt, and moved, better.

He recalled when Smith'd appeared on the kiosk's roof, in the middle of his struggle with the assassin. He'd underestimated the mercenary, who'd looked shorter and thinner than himself, and he'd been surprised by his strength and agility. He was having a hard time holding his own before Smith jumped the assassin, trying to grab his arm, and getting an elbow on his stomach for his trouble. The man'd collapsed on a pile, out of the fight, but the distraction had been enough to let Kirk recover his balance and land a series of punches on the alien before he could recover. Just as he thought the fight was over, Smith'd dragged him away, but before he could protest, the mercenary blew up before his eyes. Doctor Smith claimed that he'd used his "screwdriver" tool to partially disable the alien bomb, though the alien had finally managed to get it to explode. He'd earlier also saved Doctor McCoy's life. Kirk mused he was in the strange man's debt, yet again.

Officer Kenall sneezed, and McCoy immediately turned his attention to him, using his tricorder to scan the police officer. "Sorry," Kenall said, "it's this new flu. Half the officers have already caught it, it's why we're short-handed today."

"That's not good," interrupted McCoy, "you should be home, resting."

"It's just a flu," Kenall protested, "and these are my men! Most other leaders are already down, I can't leave them. Besides, I'm feeling fine. I wasn't sneezing before."

"That's because the infection has just caught you. You'll feel the other symptoms soon," added McCoy.

"But that'll leave me enough time to help you."

"No, I'm sorry," Smith put in. "We'll need stealth. We couldn't have you sneezing on us when we're trying to sneak into that house. But you can stay in the car and help coordinate with the other units."

Kenall grumbled but settled down, while McCoy fussed over him. "At least you can take Joan and Rich, they'll be able to help you."

Kirk wasn't sure about that. Rich, the driver, seemed much too young to be involved in a shootout, and Joan, though seemingly more experienced, was clearly startled with the responsibility. They might be more of a hindrance than help in the kind of situation they were about to face. He was about to dismiss their help when Doctor Smith spoke.

"Don't worry, Officer Kenall, Joan and Rich will be of great help." He fixed his eyes on Kirk, while continuing over the clear objection stamped in the captain's face, "I'm sure they'll be more than capable of doing their part to stop these criminals." Kirk could notice Rich straightening up in the driver's seat, and Joan's eyes shining with pride. The way Smith said that had clearly inspired their self-confidence. Kirk hoped that they weren't about to sacrifice their lives. But yes, Smith was right, they'd need help to storm that house. Besides, as inexperienced as Rich, and Joan, seemed, the officers in the other two units, just now forming up a wide circle around the mercenaries' house, weren't any better. The better trained of them all, at least of those who weren't on medical leave, seemed to be Kenall himself.

McCoy straightened up, and moved closer to the captain, in the cramped space within the car. "Jim, that's the Galinedorian flu," he spoke softly, so that Kenall and Joan, who were discussing something, wouldn't hear him. Smith somehow heard them, however, and raised his head, interested.

"But New Sapienza is on the other side of Federation space from Galinedoria, Bones!"

"Yes, this flu seems to be extremely contagious, even though it's not dangerous."

"I thought the transporters were designed to filter out harmful microbes and help prevent the spread of diseases," said the captain.

"That only works if everyone is using the transporters, but many don't like using them, or, as in here, they have to use shuttles for transportation."

"Galinedorian flu?" Smith asked.

"Yes, that's what I'm calling it. Almost half of the _Enterprise_ 's crew caught it just after that incident in Galinedoria, when we first met you."

"And now it's here," Smith replied, also keeping his voice soft. "Interesting. I did notice that a number of students began to fall ill, recently. Nothing serious, but some classes were suspended when the teachers also caught it."

"Mia..."

"Who, Jim?"

"The daughter of an old friend. I met her and her brother in the transport to Residence Nedentide. They'd just arrived on the Asimov. She was recovering from the flu."

"Starliner transportation can be one of the primary vectors for the spreading of diseases. Shouldn't the ship have been quarantined, to stop the spread of the flu?" asked Smith.

"Ah, but Starfleet Medical has too much on their mind, with too many rare but dangerous diseases to worry about," McCoy complained. "I've sent my report but no one seemed concerned. 'It's just another flu', they said. They even dragged their feet before sending the transporter filter update patch for the Galinedorian flu virus. And it wasn't even flagged as a priority patch. No wonder the flu has already arrived here."

"That means no one was concerned enough to quarantine a ship just for the flu," explained Kirk. "Even more so if as you've said it was already here even before the Asimov arrived."

"Doctor McCoy, can I see your data on this flu?" Smith asked.

"Are you also qualified as a medical doctor," Kirk asked, "besides being an intelligence officer and an astrophysics researcher?"

"I have a wide range of interests," replied Smith, as he fiddled with McCoy's tricorder and his own silvery tool.

They finally arrived at the corner where Spock was waiting for them. Two other police cars had already arrived, one with additional weapons and protective equipment for their assault, while the other was equipped to serve as a mobile command post. The other cars, with the officers that were to help them, were scheduled to arrive at different points, nearer the positions the officers would have to take to surround the house in order to prevent an eventual escape attempt, while also avoiding attracting too much attention. An older sergeant was manning the command post, and Kenall walked there, dragging Smith with him, to discuss the situation. Kirk took advantage of the opportunity and pulled Spock aside.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, Captain. The house-"

"Later, Spock. First I need you to check something for me. Smith now claims to be from Starfleet Intelligence."

"Yes, you mentioned that, when you called earlier about the sniper attack."

"I'm not convinced he's telling the whole truth. There's something odd about him."

"There are many things that are strange about Doctor Smith. You must be more specific."

"I don't think he belongs to SI. I need you to check his identity."

"Did he show you an ID card?"

"Yes, and I read it using McCoy's tricorder, and it seemed to check out."

"Then it is valid. It cannot be forged."

"Do you mean it's too hard to forge one?

"No, I mean it's physically impossible to forge one. You would need access to a parallel universe to be able to generate an identity card that wasn't issued by Starfleet Intelligence but which would pass the tricorder validation program."

"Oh. Anyway I still need you to verify his identity. I've never seen a code like the one in his card. It's possible he's not an agent but a mere consultant, and he's not really authorized to take over the operation as he's done."

"The ID card should contain enough information to ascertain his authorization level, and even the missions he's assigned to."

"But I don't know how to retrieve the additional information. You've worked with SI before, so I'm assuming you know how to do it."

"Yes, I do. And my tricorder is equipped to decrypt the additional information. I'll see what I can find, Captain."

"Thanks, Spock! Now let's join the others before we're missed."

Kirk watched as Spock asked to see Doctor Smith credentials. Smith passed him the small beige card with a raised eyebrow towards Kirk. Spock checked it with his tricorder, raised an eyebrow of his own, and checked it again.

"Is that all right, Mr. Spock?" Smith asked. "Do you need something else?"

"I'm intrigued. All your credentials are encrypted, beyond your name and authorization code. Normally it's only the mission data that's encrypted. And I've never seen an authorization code like yours before. Code 9-Epsilon-Gamma. Even the format does not match the usual Starfleet codes."

"Perhaps that's because it's a special code, for use in specific circumstances. I trust you're satisfied that I'm authorized to request the full cooperation of both Starfleet officers and planetary authorities?"

"That's what the tricorder says. But, I wonder, if you had it, why haven't you shown it before?"

Doctor Smith sighed. "That's because I prefer to do things quietly, without pulling rank, or attracting that much attention. It's really a last resort. But time is running out, and we need to get to those mercenaries before they suspect their plot has been uncovered. There isn't time to argue whose authority should take precedence."

"I understand, Doctor," Spock said.

"Besides, if you're curious, I believe there may be some additional information you can access, as First Officer of the _Enterprise_."

"I see. Yes, there is." Spock clearly wasn't expecting that. "It uses the alternate personal identification protocol. It'll take me a while to decipher it." Kirk watched Spock frown as he examined the record header.

"Since your tricorder is SI compliant," said Doctor Smith, interrupting his examination, "you can take a copy of the credentials data and try to satisfy your curiosity later. Now let's go back, shall we? The other teams should already be in position and we have yet to discuss some details."

Spock returned the identity card after copying the ID record into the tricorder's secure memory, and they followed Doctor Smith to the command car. Officer Kenall introduced them to Sergeant Davison, and they proceeded to discuss Spock's observations of the mercenaries' house. Kirk noticed that his first officer was stiffly formal during the subsequent discussions, and wondered what was about that ID that had so disturbed his Vulcan friend. Since he hadn't said anything yet, whatever it was it could wait. But clearly he'd found something he didn't like. He'd have to ask him later.

Their plan was simple. They were terribly short of personnel, and their only chance lay in surprising the mercenaries before they could set the explosives to detonate. Not only those in the research compound that was the mercenaries' target, but also the ones Doctor Smith was certain they had ready to cover their tracks in the house itself. Remembering the sniper who blew himself up on the kiosk's roof, Kirk could only agree with Smith's assessment.

Spock had noticed that a fellow Vulcan was the next door neighbor to the mercenaries, and with his help he'd managed to get close enough to the house's walls to scan it, determining that most of the mercenaries' equipment should be on the upper floor of the house. They studied the floor plans, and decided to use the Vulcan neighbor's house as the assembly point. Spock and Smith would pretend they were visiting scholars, while Kirk, McCoy and Officers Joan and Rich would dress up as maintenance personnel and approach from the service way behind the houses. They should be out of sight from the mercenaries' house until they could meet in the rear courtyard.

Officer Kenall managed to convince Doctor Smith to take Sergeant Davison with them in his place, so there'd be seven members in the assault team. Kenall would coordinate the approach of the two other units, once they've entered the house, so they'd have some backup if things didn't go well. Two snipers would try to access the roof of other neighboring houses, but with the upper floor windows covered by thick blinds, they wouldn't be of much help for the assault itself. Doctor Smith emphasized they should try to capture the mercenaries alive, one of them at least, so that Starfleet could have a prisoner to interrogate.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy armed themselves with phasers and smoke grenades, as did Sergeant Davison and Officers Joan and Rich. Doctor Smith, however, dug into the police equipment and finally got himself a large communicator module he immediately began to fiddle with, as well as a couple of other things Kirk couldn't identify at a glance. Doctor Smith and Spock got ready to go first, with Davison, who was already wearing his civilian clothes, while the others would wait with Kenall for their go ahead. At the last moment, McCoy decided to join the first group, since his clothes also marked him as an academic, rather than dressing up as a technician. "I'm a doctor, not a mechanic, Jim!" he complained, and went with the other three, before the captain could argue otherwise. Kirk stayed behind, wondering if there was something he had missed about his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Chapter revised to remove the "puzzle" in the Doctor's ID.


	8. Reflections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team prepares for the assault on the neighboring house, but Spock isn't his normal self.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's for you who have waited for so long, for those who reviewed and helped me go ahead with this. I can't thank you enough, so this chapter and the next one should suffice :) Please note that I've edited the previous chapter to fix the "puzzle" in the ID record which I realized was a plot hole. I had an idea for a plot point using it but it got too complex to work out. If I ever have the time, and a beta reader, I'll go back to the previous chapters and fix some other things, but right now it'd get in the way of writing the rest of the story.
> 
> This chapter was already too long even without the assault scene so I decided to split it in two. The assault scene should follow in the next chapter, which is almost done. These chapters have been the hardest so far to write, in all my stories. Maybe because the action scene made me realize how difficult it is for me to write one. Maybe because a large part of this is centered around Spock, and he isn't easy to write either. Maybe because I'm a perfectionist. Once I promised you I'd try harder to finish it, I realized just how hard it was, and it took me a while to get most kinks ironed out and written down. But here it is, and I hope it's not too disappointing. It is larger than usual, though.
> 
> So far I've tried very hard to keep each chapter within a single character's point of view, but I'm breaking this rule with this and the next chapters. Instead, each section is written from a different point of view. Generally, as with the chapters, the first person mentioned in each section should be the one from whose POV that part of the story is being told.

McCoy burst into a short run, trying to keep up with the Doctor and Spock, who were striding down the residential street towards the side lane where the mercenaries had rented a house, next to a Vulcan academic's residence. The Doctor was rambling again, but Spock looked straight ahead and ignored him. Sergeant Davison, who could be mistaken for a professor with his clothes, wizened semblance, and posture, was trying to follow the Doctor's words. Every now and then he would look quizzically toward McCoy, perhaps hoping for a clue to what was happening between the two others. McCoy, however, stayed silent, worried about his Vulcan colleague.

It was obvious to the _Enterprise_ 's doctor that something had disturbed Spock deeply, and his cold attitude toward the Doctor, even colder than was usual for him, was in stark contrast with his almost obsessive former interest in their strange acquaintance. McCoy wondered how much the half-human half-Vulcan science officer was aware of his own reactions. As Chief Medical Officer of the _Enterprise_ , responsible for the health of all its crew, he'd read what he could about Vulcan health issues, psychology included. However McCoy's own personal experience with his Vulcan colleague had enabled him to recognize there were serious biases and misunderstandings underlying the few human writings on the subject. These shortcomings were easy to explain, even if he discounted human prejudice. Vulcan almost never participated in the Federation medical exchange program, making it a notable exception to their cooperation in other scientific fields. They provided their own medics to the major centers of the Federation, and it was rare that other medics were called to treat Vulcans for anything serious. Vulcan's own medical literature was almost inaccessible through the barrier of language and culture. Automatic translation of academic research from other civilizations was limited, with people often forgetting the crucial role cultural background played in text interpretation. So he'd had to resort to trying to decipher the arcane Vulcan medical literature in order to gain enough confidence that he wasn't missing something important in Spock's regular health assessments. Not that the blasted Vulcan ever recognized, or cooperated with, his efforts.

In his studies of comparative xenopsychology, he'd learned that Vulcan emotions did exist, Spock's denials notwithstanding. However, when unchecked, Vulcan emotions tended to manifested themselves in particularly strong and violent ways, so Vulcans trained since infancy to repress them, in order to keep them from influencing their decisions and actions. His usual needling of his colleague aside, he'd always worried about the balance Spock must maintain between the Human and Vulcan parts of his self, and how his partly human emotions would affect his psychology.

"Doctor Smith, I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from further comments about Vulcan traditions," retorted Spock, abruptly bringing McCoy's attention back to his companions. The Doctor's monologue had somehow drifted from curiosities about New Sapienza's society to Vulcan habits and culture, and that had finally shaken the Vulcan's feigned indifference. "Senak is a renowned Vulcan researcher of alien cultures and societies, and he has graciously acceded to my request to use his house. Even if I may tolerate your ignorant ramblings about Surak's philosophy, it would be rather discourteous to him to continue this talk while in his house."

The Doctor turned without stopping, walking backwards in front of the Vulcan so he could stare at him. Walking slightly behind and to the left of his Vulcan colleague, McCoy observed as the Doctor scrutinized Spock's face and frowned. "Very well, Spock," he said after a moment, "as you wish. But I'd recommend you go back to Surak's writings, the original ones, not the treatises the later commentators wrote about his philosophy. You might learn something you've missed before." Not waiting for Spock's reply, the Doctor faced forward again and, as they turned the corner to their destination, they stopped talking.

Senak promptly opened the door to let them into the visitor's room, which was rather tastefully decorated with mementos from a variety of cultures. After a brief introduction the Doctor asked to see the second floor, in order to better scan the neighboring house, and Senak left to take him there, pointing the others toward the study room. Davison immediatelly proceeded to the backyard to check the fences and the back alley, leaving McCoy with Spock in the relatively large but, in accordance to Vulcan style, sparsely decorated room. As soon as they were alone, McCoy rounded on Spock.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Not now, Doctor McCoy," he replied, turning aside and concentrating on his tricorder.

'Damn!' McCoy thought. He struggled to control himself. It wouldn't do to provoke the annoying Vulcan, he'd simply clam up. He had to find a way to get through to him. He breathed, raised his hand as if asking for a pause, and that attracted Spock's attention.

"Bear with me for a moment, Spock. Please. Is there a reason you're antagonizing Doctor Smith?"

"I was not antagonizing him," the Vulcan stubbornly replied, and went back to his tricorder.

"Something clearly happened between you and him, Spock," the doctor insisted, but Spock ignored him. He decided to try another tack. "The man is odd, I'll admit, but he's friendly enough, and he saved my life. Is there something else I should know about him?" That seemed to do the trick, as Spock tilted his head and gazed into his fellow officer's face.

"Indeed. He's not what he seems to be."

'That he's certainly not,' McCoy thought. "Then, for God's sake, Spock, tell me what you've learned."

"I believe that Doctor Smith may have another agenda," said Spock, after a moment. "He spent considerable effort trying to bring us here. Us as in the _Enterprise_ specifically, when he could have requisitioned any starship in the vicinity. And he's not telling us everything."

"He's with Starfleet Intelligence, they never tell us everything."

"There may be more to it than that. It's noteworthy that even priority communications from here to Starfleet Headquarters are subject to significant time lag. I've sent a request to validate Doctor Smith's identity, but it will be several hours before we have a reply."

"Do you suspect his SI identity is forged?"

"On the contrary, it is authentic, but the details are encrypted using a protocol I have not encountered before."

"Then what, Spock? Do you suspect he lacks the authority he's claimed?"

"No, his authorization level is high enough to requisition any and all help he deems necessary."

McCoy breathed, trying to control his temper. "There must be something else. What is bugging you?"

Spock frowned, but refrained from commenting on the doctor's choice of words. "Indeed. I believe it is likely Doctor Smith was one of the 'consultants' Director Maliky supposedly recruited for a few highly classified missions close to the end of her tenure. Doctor Smith's ID card was issued using her codes, and he's unusual enough that this is the best explanation for his having that identification." He paused a moment before continuing, "During my brief assignment to Starfleet Intelligence my team helped with the wrapping up of one of those missions, but all we learned was that something very peculiar had happened, and that the people involved were not regular SI agents. If Doctor Smith was one of these 'consultants', the _Enterprise_ may be in grave danger, even if he's still working with SI."

McCoy could hear the doubt in Spock's voice that that would be the case. He shouldn't have been surprised to learn that Spock had worked with Starfleet Intelligence before. He had to admit that it made sense. Anyway, he was concerned with Spock's reasoning, in light of what he also knew about the man in question. Why would the Doctor, supposedly a member of an advanced civilization from outside the Federation, be working with Starfleet for years now? He'd had no chance to question him since he'd revealed his SI card, and that was bugging him as well. The Doctor must be more involved with Federation history than he let on. He didn't think Starfleet Intelligence would be very comfortable with this fact. Especially some of its more paranoid members. That could be enough to explain all the secrecy. Still, his guts told him to continue to trust the Doctor, at least until he could talk to him, so he kept this knowledge to himself.

But Spock hadn't finished. After watching the doctor mull over his words for a moment, he continued, "Besides, the fact that his ID card has an encrypted record addressed to me as an _Enterprise_ officer indicates that he must have planned to involve the _Enterprise_ in his 'mission' well before we've first met on Galinedoria. He'd hardly have a chance to visit Starfleet Headquarters after that. Not according to the travel path he must have followed from what I've uncovered. Therefore he must have lied to us when we first met."

And therein lies the problem, McCoy realized. He caught the subtle inflexion that indicated the Vulcan's aggravation with his conclusion. "What did the record say?" he asked, hoping that Spock was overstating the issue.

"I haven't decrypted it yet. The protocol requires time to be decoded, time that I don't have right now. It'll have to wait until we've stopped the mercenaries."

"At least you agree that he's not lying about them."

Spock eyed his fellow officer for a moment before focusing on the tricorder again. "The evidence I have collected independently points to the conclusion that the people in the next house are planning something very dangerous and must be stopped."

"But you still believe Doctor Smith's been trying to manipulate you," McCoy hazarded. Spock raised his head from the tricorder and stared at him with a blank look that he was able to recognize as surprise.

"Yes, you are correct. I can see no other explanation for the effort he'd gone through to draw my attention."

'Can't you, Spock?' McCoy thought. In their short time together, he'd noticed that the Doctor seemed at least as interested in Spock as the Vulcan had seemed before. Maybe the fascination was mutual. "You know, ever since you've met Doctor Smith in Galinedoria, you've been fascinated by him. Isn't that so? You've spent an inordinate amount of time looking for the man."

"He has intrigued me, yes," Spock admitted begrudgingly.

"Because you saw him as a human who understands Vulcans?"

Spock fixed the doctor with a glare. "His self-control, though far from perfect, is better than most humans I've met, and his command of logical reasoning is remarkable," he admitted. "He's also acquainted with basic Vulcan customs and history. However, as you've witnessed, not only he displays a faulty aprehension of the core of Vulcan philosophy, he is also arrogant and deceitful." Knowing what he knew about 'Doctor Smith', McCoy had to restrain himself from laughing, both at the science officer's misapprehension of the Doctor's true nature as well as his lack of self-awareness of his own arrogance. But he sobered up at the Vulcan's last word, realizing how much the Doctor's apparent deceit must have hurt Spock, given the importance of honesty to Vulcans. He himself wasn't being fully honest with the Vulcan right now, but that couldn't be helped. Telling him the full truth right now would be a disaster. But maybe he could help his colleague realize something.

"And now that you think that was all an attempt to manipulate you, you feel betrayed."

"Feeling betrayed is an emotion-"

"And as a Vulcan you are immune to emotions, yes, you've said it before." After a moment, McCoy said, "Tell me, what is the chance that there is another explanation for the inclusion of the record addressed to you in his ID?"

Spock didn't answer immediately. Fixing his eyes on the wall behind McCoy, he even stopped fiddling with the tricorder for a moment before replying, "The probablity is 93,14% that the record was included because the _Enterprise_ was to be involved from the outset in whatever 'mission' Doctor Smith is currently pursuing."

"But there's a seven percent probability of another explanation-"

"Six point eighty-six percent," interrupted Spock.

"Whatever, there's a chance that you're wrong and he's not lied to you!" exclaimed McCoy.

"A very small chance, yes. That, and the urgency of stopping the mercenaries, are the reasons I haven't confronted him yet with my findings. Until then, I request that you be careful around him." Spock pointedly directed his attention to his tricorder and moved to another spot of the room, waving the instrument at the wall.

McCoy sighed. How much worse would it be once Spock learned what the Doctor really was? He realized that the Doctor'd probably been right in keeping his nature secret for the time being, but in the long run it'd only make things more complicated. He muttered, "All right, Spock, I will," before leaving the study room toward the back of the house.

* * *

Spock carefully examined the tricorder's display. He'd already confirmed the layout of the neighboring house's ground floor, but he couldn't be sure of the number of people there. From the heat signatures and the electromagnetic scattering, there should be between two and four mercenaries in the ground floor, and that could mean they would have a low probability of getting to the upper floor without raising the alarm. He adjusted the tricorder settings again, trying to acquire better data, while simultaneously running mental simulations of various tactical options for assaulting the house and reviewing the recent conversation.

He narrowed his eyes. He didn't need more distractions. The assault on the mercenaries' base would be difficult, and he had enough to think about without being distracted by the _Enterprise_ 's doctor's words. Nonetheless, he found that he couldn't stop himself from returning to their conversation. Why hadn't he calculated the probabilities before McCoy asked him? He didn't want to admit it, but his calculations were rushed and based only on a preliminary survey of possible scenarios, and he was aware that the margin of error was high. But he would have time to refine the numbers later. Right now, there were more important things to occupy his mind.

He swung the tricorder around, pursuing a fluctuation in two of the electromagnetic bands that might indicate someone moving around in the neighboring house. But there weren't enough EM sources to allow for enough resolution in his passive scans. Frustrated, for the eleventh time he considered using an active scan, before concluding again that the risk of detection was unacceptable. He decided there wasn't much else to get from his current position and moved to the visitor's room, past the stairs to the upper floor.

He was finally getting some promising results when he heard steps descending the stairs. He tensed, he didn't need any more distractions.

"Your friend is finishing his scans and asked me to prepare the study room," said Senak as he entered the visitor's room.

'He's not my friend', Spock thought, but stopped himself from uttering at the last moment. At least it would be easier talking to a Vulcan than the alternative. He glanced at his fellow Vulcan, who had a strange expression in his face before he looked away. "I thank you again for allowing us to use your house, and I apologize for the disturbance."

"As I said before, it's not a problem. I was concerned about these people next door. When they arrived, two weeks ago, I was curious about their species and tried to initiate a conversation, but they rebuffed my attempts. But I saw a Human with them a couple of times. He seemed local. I told your colleague about him. He's an interesting Human, this Doctor Smith."

"He's dangerous," Spock said, before stopping himself.

Senak shrugged, in a strangely Human fashion. "I haven't met anyone alive who isn't, including you and me." Spock couldn't argue the point. Senak continued, "I have seen him around three times before, and once we talked at length, at the park." Spock recalled that there was a small park at the corner of the other street, with benches and trees. "He's different."

"Different how?"

"I am a researcher in alien cultures," Senak said, "and part of my method involves engaging members of other cultures in conversation, especially about our similarities and differences. But most people I interview tend to be generally unaware of the specificities of their own cultures. Doctor Smith, however, made for an intriguing conversation. He could talk at length about a number of cultures, not only Human but also Vulcan and Andorian, among others. He was able to clarify for me some details about ancient Human philosophies, contrasting their so-called Oriental and Occidental approaches. I was unaware of the parallels between Surak's philosophy and their Oriental perspectives. It was a very enlightening conversation."

Spock clenched his jaw, but before he could comment, Senak resumed talking. "Most of the references he gave me then were very difficult to find, but the library was able to recover a few copies of ancient texts. I was hoping for his help in translating them, but he has just excused himself." That surprised Spock. He hadn't really expected Smith to accede to his request of staying away from the subject. "He told me that, once the mercenaries have been dealt with, he'll probably have to leave with you. I would like to ask if you could delay your departure in order to let him spend a few hours helping me with some of the most obscure concepts."

"I would warn you that Smith may not know as much as he pretends to," Spock said, while wondering if the man was really ready to go with them.

Senak nodded, "I agree with you. Some of his ideas are peculiar. He is clearly not a member of academia, since he tends to emit unsupported opinions that are quite unaligned with the current standard of research. However, a few of them represent novel points of view, and I'm sure he could help with my research."

"Very well, if we have the time, I'll consider it." There would have to be some wrapping up before they could all leave in the shuttle, and maybe the captain would agree to this. Senak's help had been invaluable, after all.

"Thank you." But instead of leaving, Senak continued where he was, facing the wall. Spock was aware that he was probably observing him, as he himself was doing to the other Vulcan, from the corner of his eyes. After a moment, Senak continued, "One of the things Doctor Smith told me was very enlightening. I was unaware that when Humans hear us saying that we do not have emotions, they often think we mean it literally. But the evolution of emotions is an universal fact among organic sentient beings. Instead, we learn since infancy to block them from manifesting themselves in our consciousness and affecting our actions. That however leaves us less able to recognize them in others, especially when the signs are subtle. I have learned that among other species there is a wide variation in the susceptibility to emotions among individuals, and I have been trying to train myself to recognize emotions and their effects on behavior in other species. As a Vulcan who works in close cooperation with so many diverse Humans, I'd welcome your perspective in this regard."

That was too much, and Spock replied icily, "This is a very tiresome topic. There is much to be done if we are to be successful in stopping the mercenaries, and I would be thankful if you kept your questions to yourself until after we accomplished what we came for."

"Of course. As you wish," Senak said evenly, before moving to the next room.

Spock tried to relax his muscles once the other Vulcan left. Vulcans having emotions! He had to admit the argument seemed valid. But it would also imply that Vulcans sometimes might be unable to recognize, and therefore block, emotions in themselves. Of course, it would be irrelevant, as long as emotions did not affect his logical reasoning. But why was he so uncomfortable with the notion?

He shook his head once. All his conclusions were supported by evidence, and he was always methodical in applying logic to the facts and inferences. In fact he was often stricter in following logic than most Vulcans. He had to be. His lapse in considering other possible explanations for the record addressed to him in Smith's ID was just that, a momentary lapse. That wasn't the only evidence of Smith's untrustworthiness. But he had to admit that he might have arrived too quickly at that conclusion.

He saw movement from the corner of the eye and turned. It was just a mirror, a tall mirror, partially hidden behind a shelf. He stepped closer to it and gazed into the reflection, surprised and uneasy. His own gaunt, tight face seemed that of a stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a question for you. This episode ends soon, with at most three more chapters, then there'll be an interlude before the third episode. The next episode doesn't need to be long, plotwise. Maybe just three chapters long. But there is scope for a longish adventure, if you prefer. Not revealing anything about the plot, do you think it would be better to push the plot forward towards the 4th episode, or let the story meander a bit in the next encounter, when they still don't know much about the Doctor yet? It'll have the same amount of action in any case, but if it's longer I can explore the interactions between the characters, and their viewpoints, a bit more. Please tell me which you prefer.
> 
> I've delineated the full plot, with all the main events roughly drafted, including the end. There'll be at least some 12 episodes in total, arranged in three parts. The first part ends with the 4th episode, and then I'll probably pause for a bit, to review and edit the first part as a whole, before resuming.
> 
> Please note that this story still lacks a beta reader. So I ask you to forgive my grammar and other mistakes. I hope they don't detract too much from the enjoyment of the story.


End file.
